Figures in Waterscape
"What Lurks Beneath"
By M’fanwy Dean (hand-carved maple panel, ambidextrous, 14“ x 11”, 2020)
M’fanwy Dean is a talented young artist from Alaska who has specialized in carved wood reliefs since 2015. After an injury to her dominant right hand in 2018, she persevered in her craft by “training her left hand to write, sketch, paint, and eventually carve.”
Most of Dean’s artwork is now done ambidextrously, as in the featured piece, “What Lurks Beneath.” Notice the tiny rowboat in the right foreground, which is only a little larger than a penny. The piece was part of the invitational “Enchanted Brush Exhibition: Creatures Most Curious” at the Mazza Museum of the University of Findlay (Ohio) in 2020.
Dean imbues her carved wood reliefs with a sense of narrative, working with tiny chisels and each panel’s unique woodgrain and texture. She explains, “I strive to push the boundaries of my medium, using negative space, and each permanent cut of the chisel to bring life and movement to my work.”
Dean has posted videos on her website showing the carving process.
"The Wrinkled Sea Beneath Her Crawls"
By Alexandra Manukyan (oil on linen, 36” x 18”, 2022)
A 1982 graduate of the College of Fine Arts and Design in her native Armenia, figurative painter Alexandra Manukyan immigrated in 1990 to Los Angeles, where she earned a degree in fashion design in 1994. After two decades as a fashion designer and freelance artist of movie posters, she embarked on a career in fine art.
Manukyan’s beautiful figurative paintings synthesize symbolism, fantasy, and realism. Her feminine figures, often juxtaposed with animals, evince strength and command, evoking a sense of narrative and wonder.
For her solo show at Denver’s Abend Gallery in 2022, Manukyan combined realistic figures against flat backgrounds inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Four of that show’s paintings, including “The Wrinkled Sea Beneath Her Crawls,” were finalists in the Imaginative Realism category of the Art Renewal Center’s prestigious 16th International Salon, along with another of her paintings. She previously had four paintings selected as finalists in ARC’s 15th International Salon and one in the 14th International Salon.
The title of the painting featured here is a line from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Eagle” (1851) with “him” changed to “her.”
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
On her Instagram page, Manukyan explains, “Like the powerful Egyptian deity, the spiritual meaning of birds is of peace, change, and freedom, and they symbolize a transformation.”
Manukyan’s near sold-out exhibition at Abend Gallery in February 2025, “Elysian Reflections,” is showcased on My Modern Met. The article includes large images of her paintings and an artist interview discussing her creative process and use of the symbolic language of birds and flowers. Encapsulating her artistic goal, she states: “By merging classical techniques with contemporary sensibilities, I invite viewers to step into a dreamlike space where past and present, tradition and modernity, merge into a timeless reflection of what it means to be human.”
Manukyan is represented by Abend Gallery, Musonium Gallery, 33 Contemporary, and Lovetts Gallery.
"Floating Beauty"
By Prafull Sawant (oil on canvas, 47” x 71”, 2019)
Particularly known for his plein air watercolor paintings, Prafull Sawant is also talented in oil (as in the featured painting), acrylic, pastel, and charcoal. His work has been exhibited in 15 solo shows and over 70 international shows and featured in several art journals and books. He has won 42 international awards, including becoming the first Indian artist to win the International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society (2015).
Sawant leads art workshops and demonstrations worldwide and has often been a judge of international and invitational competitions. He teaches online via Patreon. The Artists’ Network has a detailed, illustrated article on his watercolor paintings.
"The Fountain of Youth"
By Calvin Lai (oil, 30” x 46”)
A master painter of figures, portraits, and cityscapes, Calvin Lai, earned an art degree from San Francisco State University, specializing in printmaking and drawing. He then entered the Academy of Art in San Francisco, planning to study commercial illustration but switched to painting.
Initially a figurative painter, completing numerous commissioned portraits, Lai expanded his subjects to still life and cityscapes of San Francisco. He strives to bring a sense of energy to his paintings and considers his art “a mixture of medicine, meditation, and personal growth.”
Lai’s paintings have been exhibited in galleries across the US and featured in national and international art publications. He is represented by Abend Gallery in Denver and Signet Contemporary Art in London.
