Bay Area native, Melissa Mandegarian, is a landscape and figurative artist and graphic designer.

Having always known she needed her career to utilize her creativity, she minored in Studio Art while earning her degree in Graphic Arts Production at San Jose State University. After working full-time as a Graphic Designer for many years, she became a stay-at-home mom and took up painting again as a creative escape.

Melissa paints in a timeless representational style, often from photos of her travels from both home and abroad but also enjoys painting en plein air. In the studio, Melissa typically starts with an underpainting to establish the tonal values; this unifies the whole painting while adding a vibrancy when it peeks through the colors added above it. She also enjoys adding texture and drama to paintings by utilizing palette knives and a variety of brush work in her technique. Images that attract her the most to paint are scenes that have interesting light – from reflections on water to dramatic effects from late day sunlight.