This month we’re featuring McCain McMurray for the Capitol Hill Art League’s Mind of the Artist feature. Read his story and check out his artwork below. Follow McCain on Instagram at @McMurrayArt or find him at www.mccainmcmurray.com

I’ve been interested in putting things together since the first tree house I built from scavenged wood as a kid in the forest behind our house in Shelby, North Carolina. That led to a career as an architect where I got to create spaces in my mind, put them together on paper and see them built by others. I have a Master of Architecture from North Carolina State University. I became interested in creating my own art when I saw a show by Anne Truitt at the Hirshhorn Museum. Her work brought together art and architecture for me. It inspired me to pick up a brush, squeeze out paint and start creating at a different level. Her use of clear colors and elegant minimal forms moved me and continues to influence me.

My art is about putting shapes together that become essays on places or memories. It is not about making pictures; it’s about defining the essence of  space and shape. It’s like architecture at a very personal level of experience. I like to work on cradled wood board with either acrylic or oil paint. I use a  combination of brushes, palette knives and squeegees to put paint on the surface.

Having a studio at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria VA for five years gave me the opportunity to paint daily and interact with visitors. Several future clients commissioned work inspired by such things as the Golden Gate Bridge and the fields of Provence. 

I have shown in a number or group shows at the Torpedo Factory Art League  Gallery, Page Bond Gallery, Touchstone Gallery and The Hill Center Galleries  as well as solo shows at Touchstone Gallery, Fall Properties and Axis Salon. 

My website is www.mccainmcmurray.com. I’m on Instagram at McMurrayArt and Facebook at McCain McMurray. I currently paint at Yuma Street Studio in Washington, D.C.