Congratulations to Martin Murphy for earning his place as the 1st Place Winner in the Boynes Emerging Artist Award 7th Edition!

Martin Murphy is also a previous finalist of our 5th Edition and has been interviewed before. Click here to view his previous interview.

Who are you?

My name is Martin Murphy and I’m a Canadian artist. I’ve worked in the arts my whole life as a dancer - then visual effects for film - and now a full time oil painter.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating your winning work "the dream"?

I do my sketching and problem solving on the computer first before starting to paint. I searched through my previous reference shoots to see if there was a model suitable for this concept but nothing really spoke to me so I hired a model. Before the shoot I did a digital mockup to show the model what I was looking for and the reference shoot only took an hour. I visited a koi distributor years ago so I had hundreds of photos to pull from to digitally ‘choreograph’ the koi around the model. Once the reference image was complete it was time to start painting. I think this piece took 5 weeks after going back to repaint the upper hand to a better rotation. I did a companion piece to this one and just may do a third.

Your winning work seems to be a beautiful combination of your figure and nature work, can you discuss the decision behind doing this?

I was organizing my paintings for an art fair and noticed I had a few koi pieces and a few figure pieces but I needed a signature piece to connect them together for a cohesive collection. I literally had a dream of a woman sensing koi but not seeing them, almost like a mirage swirling around her. I hired the model and started painting right away. The piece is called ’The Dream’ because I had the dream about the piece but it also fits as the figure almost looks like it’s her dream. So you could say it’s a dream of a dream.

Can you discuss your biggest failure since beginning your art career, and how you overcame it?

I think I can narrow it down to two; work/life balance and patience. I love what I do and am so thankful for all the wonderful experience I’ve had throughout my life but it often came at the expense of a more physically and mentally healthy lifestyle. I was a dancer in theatre then a visual effects artist (two exciting and creative careers) and I left both careers utterly burnt out and bitter. Only in the last few years have I begun to seek a better perspective on life. Perhaps it was the pandemic that forced us all to slow down and reevaluate a deeper importance in our lives but now I don’t beat myself up when I take a few days away from work. With regards to painting, I can be impatient and will stop working on a piece before its done because I’m bored of it and think it’s ‘good enough’ only to look back at it months later and realize it needed just a bit more love and effort. Now I stare at a piece, think about it, question it, put it away for a few days, fuss over it, then when I think I can’t do any better than what’s on the canvas then it’s done.

Can you tell something you wish you had known before or when you began your career that would have really helped?

Find a mentor. When I was a young dancer I would take as many classes as I could afford but it wasn’t until I met a friend and mentor that my theatre career took it’s first major step. He showed me the best classes to take, about upcoming auditions, how to find an agent, general performer etiquette on and off stage, where to buy the proper shoes, etc.. These were really important things that only someone working in the trenches of the theatre industry would know. I feel the same could be said about the art world. I have a seasoned artist friend who, for example, introduced me to Instagram, she told me to make my email-web-instagram accounts all the same name, she told me about the best local galleries, her tips on art fairs, etc.. Valuable information. In the absence of a mentor there’s always Youtube. When I’m not painting I spend a lot of time on Youtube absorbing as much general art world information as I can with lectures, tutorials, museum walkthroughs, and gallery shows.

You have won a 1 month residency in Italy, can you talk about your plans for your time at the residency?

I’m going to be a human art sponge. I’m going to soak up as much culture as I can. I’m looking forward to learning from other artists and sharing experiences. I’m going with an open mind and take everything in to push my aesthetic and to bring true emotion and story to my work. I was in Italy many yeas ago only because I was traveling to France and there was an airport strike so we had to land in Italy and they would bus us to France. I saw the countryside from a bus window so I’m truly excited to fully experience the art and culture of Italy hands on.

As a previous finalist and now winner, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

Submit your work. It’s a good learning tool and you never know where it could lead. I submit my work to competitions and some I win, some I make the finals, and some I get rejected. I find it fascinating to see other artist’s submissions and the range of amazing talent that is out there that might not been seen otherwise. Most importantly it’s a great way to get eyes from around the world on your work. Late last year I submitted my work to a local art show and from those artists three were chosen to display their work in an outdoor display for a summer. Cool! I never would have had that opportunity if I had not submitted my work to the local show.

To view more of Martin Murphy’s work

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