About Val

I was born in Comox, on beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The daughter of an RCAF Air Traffic Controller and a stay-at-home mother who was always there for my siblings and me. We moved a lot in my childhood, and I lived nine years of my young life overseas, mostly in West Germany.

As a child and young adult, I always enjoyed being creative and was raised to greatly appreciate hand crafted artwork. I started working after graduating from high school and eventually found myself with a local utility company that evolved into a 36-year career. 

In my late-forties I met an artist who encouraged me to sign up for her art lessons in watercolour. Although doubtful at first, I quickly fell in love with it and I continued to take those lessons for 11 years. In 2016 the art instructor encouraged all her adult pupils to create an art show together and I nervously invited friends and family to attend. It was a tremendous success, and it gave me the confidence to spread my wings and try other mediums with different instructors. Retirement provided me more time to paint and volunteer in the art community.

My preferred medium is now acrylic on canvas or wood. I mostly paint in a realistic style, sometimes adding a touch of whimsy, as I try to evoke a story for the viewer. I am inspired by my passions for nature, gardens and travel, painting plein air and from my photographs.

In 2025 I moved from Maple Ridge to Parksville and find myself thoroughly enjoying being a permanent resident on Vancouver Island again.  

About the Artist:

My favourite medium is oil, painted with several layers of paint to develop a richness of colour and texture.  I usually paint on a coloured ground, and the subject matter varies, but generally the style of painting involves simplifying forms or ideas into flattened abstract or impressionist shapes. My more recent work has become more abstract, and my abstract work is usually mixed media or acrylic.

I live in Parksville, BC.  I received my art training at the University of British Columbia and the Emily Carr College of Art and Design.  I continue to attend a variety of painting workshops, and I am a member of the DeCosmos Fine Art Society in Parksville and the Nanaimo Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists.  I have been a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists since 1994.

Sylvie Peltier (aka Esspé)

www.SylviePeltier.com

Canadian painter Sylvie Peltier grew up in the province of Quebec. At the age of 13, she discovered a poster inviting her to “Learn English in Vancouver.” Amazed by the ocean and mountains depicted, she decided then that she would live in British Columbia as an adult.

After studying agricultural economics (McGill, Montreal) and environmental economics (Dalhousie, Halifax), she went on to study film and television (UBC, Vancouver). In 1996, she founded Red Letter Films, a television documentary production company which she still operates with her husband.  

With a lifelong passion for art and design, she began to post her drawings on social media and started painting classes in 2014. She participated in her first group and solo exhibitions in 2018. She also organized an art studio tour in her community in 2021 and 2022, the South Rock Art Tour.  

In 2023, she moved to Qualicum Beach, on Vancouver Island. It was there that she finally devoted herself to her life as an artist. She offers painting classes in her waterfront studio and welcomes the public by appointment.  

An active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists since 2021, she participates in local art events from Comox to Nanaimo. She is a member of local artists’ groups, with whom she regularly participates in exhibitions. She is also planning two solo exhibitions: one at the McMillan Arts Centre, in May 2025, and the other at The Old School House Arts Centre (TOSH), in January 2026.  

Esspé loves to explore imperfection and to mix styles.

She usually starts with a theme or canvas size, then follows a haphazard creative process. She uses a variety of techniques and materials, including her own photographs as inspiration to reinterpret her natural landscapes. She favors bright colors, such as pink, purple and blue. She sometimes starts with a black chalked background to create a stained-glass effect, or superimposes layers of transparent colors on abstract paintings.

Her works, designed to evoke positive emotions such as surprise and wonder, are also printed on clothing, stationery and home decor.

Sylvie Peltier has lived in British Columbia for over 30 years, and has been wielding her brush for the past 10 years under the artist name Esspé, the phonetic expression of the initials of her name. Her joyful, abstract works are inspired by the natural world around her.