Purchasing a Painting

Arrangements can be made to see any of the paintings on this site in person. For a Studio Tour email me at the address above. Over 100 paintings are currently on display.

Galleries and dealers are welcome.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, John Roy Murray has lived in rural Northwestern New Jersey for over 30 years. His formal training was at The Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art where he studied both fine art and graphic design.

    An entrepreneur, John established the design firm "Murray Media" in 1972. His clients included many of the worlds leading corporations. He headed his award winning design team until 2001 when he left the commercial field to pursue his life-long involvement with painting.

    John paints contemporary realism that he describes as "Social Entropy," paintings based on objects and events that demonstrate the decline of  our infrastructure, society and environment. His highly developed design, color and aesthetic values applied to a surprising variety of subjects create stunning paintings that are truly unique.

    Early in his career John chose to work in transparent media and received his first award in watercolor while serving in the Army. He continues to explore applications of transparent media to a variety of surfaces. Most of his recent work is on birch panels coated with an absorbent gesso surface. The results have frequently earned him recognition and awards in local, regional and national shows and juried exhibitions. He is a signature member of the Northeast Watercolor Society and three of his paintings have been included in the Art for the Parks national touring exhibition. John's diverse experiences have expanded the scope of his painting. Ideas have become more important than simply decorative subject matter. He feels a painting should have an underlying distinguishing idea. As he has evolved, so have his paintings in both subject and technique. Along the way he has created a substantial painting inventory which are framed and ready to show.

    John has always loved automobiles and when time permitted, he built his own sports racer. He now participates occasionally at amateur track events and shows. Naturally, automobiles have become the subject of several paintings.

    John and his wife Marian both have strong family ties in Canada. Many of his paintings are based on Nova Scotia and Montreal scenes as well as California where he frequently visits. He claims that the subjects there aren't any better, it's that he has more time to gather material when he's away from daily distractions at home.