Splendid Sheets

I’ve been wanting to profile this artist for some time. However, with the vibrant colors in her work and the change of seasons, now seems to be a good time.

I first learned of Catherine Murphy in of all places, the November issue of my  Elle Décor magazine. I normally get this magazine for home, interior design inspiration but this was an even added plus. I love how Murphy’s hyper-realistic paintings depict everyday scenes and subjects in quite unusual and intriguing ways. The way this portrait of this sleeping person is rendered is exceptional in its execution as well as it’s conception. The sheets are so well painted that you could reach out and touch them.

I think her depiction of spilt mik, a dress being ironed, the inside of an oven all get double takes as art objects within her paintings. It’s their visual tight shots that lift them from their mundane status to overlooked importance. The way she depicts the bird in the trees through a mirror is extremely clever — a reverse painting of sorts. The Dutch masters loved the use of mirrors to display a scene within a scene and here is a modern take on the mirror’s reflection. Her quote describes her work quite well,” The more precise I get, the more abstract the painting or drawing is.” In this way her work perfectly blends realism with abstraction and her use of color is brilliant.

This is a wonderful description of her work by Greg Lindquist for the Brooklyn Rail.

Another artist that I’ve collected information about and whose work reminds me of Catherine Murphy’s — in the subject of sheets, is Heather Horton of Burlington, Ontario in Canada. She describes her own work in this way, “I paint to examine human nature on canvas. Moments of doubt, self-discovery and transition in all forms fascinate me.” Although her work, unlike Murphy’s lacks joyous color (although can be vibrant), her rendering of sheets is splendid. Rather than use hyper-realism, her work tends to use a realistic photographic approach that has been distorted by paint. She shows her process on her Picassa photo stream from traditional photographic visual reference to drawing to painting in stages to yield a visual that may not first appear painted but as an off-kilter photo. Only after a more thorough examination does one realize that the stylistic rendering of her subjects bring life to the sense of stillness they imbue. She distorts realism and like Murphy, she turns realism into abstraction with her talented and painterly execution.

I like how she describes her blog as part of her creative process. Here is a link to her updated blog:

This blog is about the creative process that goes into my work, my travels and the lessons learned from the people and places I encounter along the way.

I view this blog, for instance, as a collection of inspirational artistic thoughts, recollections, and visual references and inspirations — such as these two artists profiled — all of these things that artists incorporate when making their creations.

I think A Song for Sleeping by Stone Temple Pilots is perfect when thinking about sheets and to Kick Start the Weekend.