RAVENSWOOD. Painting

'Every so often, a painter has to destroy painting'. De Kooning's contrarian claim is what has driven Murray to paint layer upon layer, dismantling one image by creating another over it, resulting in a multi narrative work. There are styles and techniques encouraged by Clyfford Still, Richter, De kooning, Picasso etc found in his paintings bringing a truly unique vibe to Murray's work that could be classed as 'Neo abstract'. If neo expressionism was a cultural touchstone of the 70's, Murray believes neo abstractionism will be its natural successor and develop as an artistic movement throughout the next decade of the 2020's. The scale of his paintings offer big bursts of life to any space, big or small. I am an actor by trade and as such have the luxury of downtime to indulge my creative passion. Painting professionally was something I'd always planned to do beyond college but work got in the way until about 6 years ago when an artist colleague persuaded to me to carve some time out to paint. It was the best advice I've ever been given. Painting keeps me in the moment, gives me a sense of achievement and above all brings great joy. I have been lucky enough to have sold my work over the years, and a percentage of the proceeds go to my charity the Murray Parish trust which my wife and I set up after losing our first daughter in 2009. We have since raised 2mil pounds for a new children's ED for the South, but there's still more to do! A percentage of my art sold on this website will also go to charity. Many thanks Jim x