Sandra Murphy
Canada
Sandra Murphy is a realist oil painter living in Aurora, ON, Canada. A graduate of the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto, Murphy's still life paintings feature antiques, children's toys, wine, food, fresh flowers; essentially whatever captures her attention. Murphy says, "We live in stressful times. To counteract this, I endeavour to create paintings of quiet beauty. I am drawn to things of the past, things with a history that have brought people comfort or joy, and to fresh flowers.
Murphy works exclusively in oils and only from life, never photographs. Her preferred substrate is linen on an aluminum panel. She arranges the items she's going to paint on a stand beside her easel and lights them to create interesting shadow patterns. She occasionally does a detailed preliminary drawing which she transfers to her panel, but more often she draws directly on the panel with a small brush and thinned Burnt Umber. She carefully separates the lights and darks, does a thin underpainting of local colour, followed up with thicker layers of paint, then glazes resulting in rich, luminous colour.
Murphy particularly enjoys the challenge of recreating what is actually there, capturing form and various textures. She wants the viewer to see the beauty she sees in the commonplace, everyday items that surround us.
Murphy is a member of the Art Renewal Centre (ARC), an associate member of Oil Painters of America (OPA) and an associate member of the International Guild of Realism (IGOR).
Murphy has been juried into numerous group shows in Canada and the United States. Her work has appeared in Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector and Southwest Art. Her paintings are in private collections in Canada, the United States and Japan.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
