insideKENT Magazine Issue 83 - February 2019 | Page 28

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE:
BRIAN MURPHY
THE HUMAN FORM HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SOURCE OF
INSPIRATION FOR KENT ARTIST BRIAN MURPHY, AND
SINCE RETIRING, HE HAS FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO DEDICATE
HIS TIME TO CREATING ART BASED AROUND THE SHAPES
AND MYSTERIES THAT MAKE US. THIS MONTH,
insideKENT’S LISAMARIE LAMB SPOKE TO BRIAN ABOUT
HIS INFLUENCES AND HIS INSPIRATION.
If you had to define your art, how would you describe
what you do?
My subject interests are eclectic, but I consider myself essentially a figurative
artist. Of all subject material, I feel drawing the human form is one of the
most challenging and absorbing. It is also one of the most rewarding,
since it is, above all, a collaborative process built on a creative partnership
between artist and model.
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How did you become an artist?
I began taking art seriously whilst still at school and where we were blessed with an
inspirational art teacher. Everyone obtained a good GCE in art – in sharp contrast, for
many of us, to the miserable results we achieved in almost everything else! As adults,
however, few of us have time and space to pursue our interests as fully as we would like,
until we retire. This has certainly been my own experience. I retired about eight years
ago and, although I still manage to fill my day with jobs I didn’t know I had, I commit
as much time as possible to my art.