Reveling in the unknown
Chris Manwaring, The Reminder, oil, 26 x 21.
As a young boy growing up in a Seattle suburb during the 1980s, Chris Manwaring would hop on his bike and pedal out for the day, never knowing what adventures he’d find around each bend. These days, the Vernal, UT, artist approaches his expressive paintings in much the same way—with boundless curiosity and a fascination for the unknown.
Manwaring’s adventures in painting began when his grandmother gave him a set of oils on his 12th birthday. “I didn’t have a canvas,” he says, “but I was so excited to paint that I took an old vinyl window shade, cut it down to size, mounted it on plywood, and got to work.” His family relocated to Utah a year later, where his talent took root in the rural surroundings. One of his paintings was juried into Utah’s all-state art show, an uncommon feat for a high school sophomore, and caught the eye of renowned regional landscape painter VaLoy Eaton. “He literally changed my life,” Manwaring enthuses. Eaton introduced him to the great masters and the possibility of creating a life “doing something I love and enjoy.”
- Chris Manwaring, Mountain’s Life, oil, 36 x 30.
- Chris Manwaring, Inseparable Friends, oil, 48 x 36.
- Chris Manwaring, Stirring Young, oil, 30 x 30.
The young artist subsequently bought a French easel and committed himself to painting exclusively from life for five years, which greatly influenced his creative path. Exhibition invitations and a degree from Utah State University set the course forward. Although Manwaring has explored acrylic and watercolor for variety, nothing compares to oil. “I appreciate its texture and fluidity,” the two-time Art Renewal Center Salon finalist says. “I love the editing process, being able to scrape and rebuild to create something entirely new. The broken color that results is just magical.”
An aficionado of Joaquín Sorolla’s plein-air landscapes, Manwaring experiments with light, color, and brush strokes to showcase his environment, whether it’s the riverbeds and mountains just 15 minutes from nearby Dinosaur National Monument or the European cityscapes and African wildlife from his travels. His wife and their five children are often subjects in the great outdoors, as in THE REMINDER, which was featured in the American Impressionist Society’s 22nd Annual National Juried Exhibition.
- Chris Manwaring, Grand Canyon, Moran Point, oil, 22 x 21.
- Chris Manwaring, Dreaming, oil, 11 x 14.
- Chris Manwaring, The Field of Choice, oil, 36 x 48.
As Manwaring recently wandered a property searching for his next subject matter—a deer? a sun-dappled stream? who can know?—“it hit me that I haven’t changed at all,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve always wanted to know what’s just around the corner.” —Beth Williams
representation
The Wooden Jewel, Bend, OR; www.chrismanwaringfineart.com.
This story appeared in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.