Tom Murphy (artist)
Tom Murphy is an English artist who is best known for his bronze sculptures. Murphy is a self-taught artist, starting his artistic career initially as a hobby and moved quickly to an intense period of self-study, mastering a range of techniques in many art disciplines. Previously he worked in a number of occupations which included; a seaman, salesman, musician and impressionist in a pop group. Later he graduated as a teacher at Liverpool John Moores University and taught art at the Liverpool Community College. He also worked at a Centre for People with Learning Difficulties. His differing careers and interest in the characteristics of people have both acted as a rich source of inspiration in both his paintings and sculptures. His early experimenting in painting was finally appreciated when he won first prize in the BBC 'North West Art 88' competition. His big success in sculpture came in 1996 when his 7 feet 6 inches sculpture of John Lennon was seen by a representative of major Liverpool Company, Littlewoods. He was commissioned to sculpt two monumental size bronzes of the Moores brothers for Liverpool's premier shopping area Church Street.
