www.quabbinartassociation.com

Our guest presenter for September 19 is Chris Murphy. Chris began honing his illustration skills while sitting in the back row of classrooms, his creativity sparked by Comics pages, MAD Magazine, Warner Brothers, Dr. Suess, and later, many more influences in the world of illustration.

In his own words, “I mostly grew up in heavily wooded, Redding, CT. At about this age (eight), it was clear that I was an ambidextrous, dyslexic mess with a penchant for drawing, so really, it's no wonder that I fell into a career as an illustrator. After studying at Curry College, Emerson College and the Silvermine Arts Center, I embarked on my freelance experiment, learning as I go. Still.”

Beginning in 1988, Chris began to send promotional postcards to various magazines, newspapers, ad agencies, and graphic designers, first in small numbers, and then as many as 3,000 at a time. During the nineties, he worked from a studio in the Westport Arts Center for seven years, a period instrumental to his artistic development. Soon he became busy illustrating for such clients as The New York Times, Boston Globe, United Healthcare, Forbes Magazine, IBM, Hallmark Greetings, Weekly Reader, Highlights For Children, and various book publishers. Also, a gig as a contract artist for American Greetings lasted for five years, creating nearly 500 designs. Chris lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts. More work can be viewed at cmurph.com.