Burland Murphy

"When I was growing up, my family and I lived close to a large salt-water marsh along the Tusket River in Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia. Being a country boy, with an ability to draw, and an abstract approach to seeing my surroundings, lead to an almost natural gravitation, to a combination of art and natural history .(Wildlife Art)

While studying fine art at the Nova Scotia College of Arts and Design, I began experimenting with woodcuts with a view to my returning to rural life.

The paramount thing that I have acquired from this art is that the crowning beauty of Planet Earth is the natural world.. and for 'wildlife', movement is its highest expression. It is precisely this movement which precludes the detail which tends to freeze the subject matter.

To maintain movement and natural expression of my subjects, I deliberately omit details to force the viewers to relate personal experiences into the art. This keeps the art alive and not static.

View this example woodcut of the Red Fox.

Process to a finished woodcut print starts with field sketches worked up into finished drawings. These drawings would look close to what I want the print to look like, when all procedures are completed. Because of reverse image with printmaking, I draw in the opposite direction on the wood, then I carve out the image, ink up the wood with rollers, then place quality rag paper squarely on the inked up wood block. The back of the paper is then burnished with a table spoon, forcing the transfer of ink from the block to the paper. When the paper is removed from the block, the printing image and the original finished drawing are in the same direction.


View an example of an original oil painting of 3 Eagles on a wharf.

Contact Information

Burland Murphy
P.O. Box 185
Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
B0E 1B0

Phone: 902-295-2904
Email: burland@morandan.com