John Philip Murray

Open Studio for Culture Night - 20th September 2013:

I opened my studio to members of the public as my contribution to Cork County Council Culture Night. This was a rare opportunity to visit the studio of a practising painter of long experience and see first-hand how the space has been designed and learn the reasons why, and how it works, day to day.

The motivation in having an Open Studio was to provide insight into my methodology and working practices. It also served to show that neither the workplace nor the work, arrive fully-formed, from a vacuum, but are the product of constant refining. Visitors were shown examples of work at various stages, from working drawings to finished work, framed and ready for exhibition. Visitors were encouraged to ask questions at every stage.

Participants pre-booked their visits. I invited a maximum of 8 visitors at any one time and each session lasted for approximately one hour.

Content: Visitors were shown: - The layout of a working painter's studio - How working space, storage for materials and finished work have been organised - Examples of work in: drawing/watercolour/pastel/oil/print - Examples of developments over more than 40 years of work.

Copyright © John Philip Murray All rights reserved

Placid Murray, Monk of Glenstal, oil on cotton, 76 x 50 cm, 1991 - 2012.

The portrait of Placid Murray, Monk of Glenstal was one of the works on view in my studio for Culture Night.