November 5, 2023
Interview with Tim Murphy
In this video, Emilio Longo interviews Australian tonal realist painter, Tim Murphy. Tim is a dedicated painter and tutor with an intensive preoccupation with the nature of sight, who attempts to record the visual experience using an approach centred on tone, with subtle manipulations of form and colour, to direct a viewer's eye. A devotee of the Max Meldrum method of tonal realism, Tim’s subject matter focuses on small to mid-sized still lifes, with the occasional figure and plein air landscape painting. His still lifes are based on a range of humble objects, both man made and perishables that are usually composed in pairs and groupings according to their colour harmonies and contrasting textures. Having a history in web development, Tim’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts majoring in History and English Literature, from the University of Melbourne which he completed in 2012. His training as a painter has seen him seek out a range of teachers who are steeped in the tradition of Australian tonalism which have provided mentorship over the years, some of which include; Stephen Doyle, Ray Hewitt, Gregory Smith, Julian Merrow-Smith, Lee Machelak and Paul MucDonald-Smith.
Tim’s exhibition record began in 2015 and includes a combination of group and solo shows including 8 group shows to date that took place during 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 and 7 solo shows during 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2025 and 2026. Common exhibition venues include the Victorian Artists Society in Melbourne, where Tim has been a member since 2013, Ladder Art Space in Kew, Milk Bar Gallery in Kyneton and his parent’s shearing shed at Rosebery Hill in Pipers Creek, as well as St. Paul’s Church Hall in Kyneton. Tim has received numerous awards and commendations which include being highly commended for numerous exhibitions at the Victorian Artists Society in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2023 and 2025. He exhibited his paintings in the Victorian Artist Society’s Mavis Little Award show in 2016, 2018 and 2022. In 2017 Tim was highly commended at the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival Art Show, and judged the Kyneton Art Group’s show that was held during the same festival, and in 2020, he received the Victorian Artists Society Signatory Award. Additionally, in 2025, Tim won the Hylton Mackley Artist of the Year award from the Victorian Artists Society. Topics discussed include, Tim’s youth and the influence of his artist-teacher mother and great grandfather, his early visits to the National Gallery of Victoria, attending Melbourne Grammar School in the early 1990’s where he studied with several affluent art teachers who introduced him to oil painting. Tim reminisces several jobs he maintained over the years to support his painting practice which include, working in a warehouse and being a web developer in the late 1990’s, as well as his university years where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in 2012, majoring in History and English Literature. Having travelled to the West Coast of Scottland on several occasions, Tim elaborates on his visits to the Isle of Skye and how it influenced him to start painting en plein air. Tim provides information on making a decision in 2013 to create a painting a day for a year and how it improved his understanding of the craft of tonal realist painting. Further to this, Tim also explains his experiences of exhibiting his paintings in various gallery contexts, teaching, selling art, as well as providing plenty of technical information on the craft of painting and sustaining a life as a realist painter.
Tim’s Website: www.paintingaday.net
Tim’s Email: lettucegnome@gmail.com