{"id":3464,"date":"2025-08-31T12:38:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/about\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:24:09","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/?page_id=3464","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"3464\" class=\"elementor elementor-3464\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eeb0be9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"eeb0be9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-303db0f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"303db0f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">\"If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint\"  <\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-33a43ee elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"33a43ee\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>(Edward Hopper)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-29df63b e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"29df63b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a5313a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1a5313a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I began painting and drawing portraits out of a deep fascination with faces. What started as curiosity grew into a dedicated practice in portraiture and figurative work, where I combine close observation with expressive brushwork. For me, painting is both an act of discovery and a form of translation. A true portrait, I believe, should reach beyond likeness to capture both the spirit and the presence of a real person.<\/p><p>Influenced by the traditions of European portraiture as well as the immediacy of modern realism, I strive to balance traditional techniques with a contemporary, expressive style.<\/p><div class=\"adm\">\u00a0<\/div><div class=\"im\"><p>My work has been exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy\u2019s Annual Exhibitions and the Royal Ulster Academy\u2019s Annual Exhibitions over the years, and will be included in the Royal Ulster Academy\u2019s Annual Exhibition (2026\u201327). In May 2021, my portrait of Will Young was awarded Sky Portrait Artist of the Week.<\/p><p>In May 2026 my Portrait of Lana won The Irish Arts Review \/ The Ireland &#8211; U.S. Council Award for Portraiture, at the RHA.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>While much of my practice focuses on exhibition work, I also welcome commissions, finding great meaning in creating portraits that hold personal resonance for both sitters and their families.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8234e41 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8234e41\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1de324f elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1de324f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"823\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757-823x1024.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3725\" alt=\"RUA Belfast ~ www.olivermurphyartist.com\" srcset=\"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757-823x1024.png 823w, https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757-241x300.png 241w, https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757-121x150.png 121w, https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757-768x955.png 768w, https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_7757.png 828w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">'Katy' on show at the Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint&#8221; (Edward Hopper) I began painting and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_theme","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3464","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3464"}],"version-history":[{"count":213,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4382,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3464\/revisions\/4382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olivermurphyartist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}