essence of expression 03: stella murphy
Stella Murphy, a cartoonist based in South East London, shares a studio space that reflects the bold lines of her artwork. It’s colourful and extravagant. Posters, ribbons and disco balls adorn the walls and shelves, and a pink sunken conversation pit with a mirrored ceiling fills the centre of the room.
She herself however, is more reserved. Quick to point out a good question, she meditates thoughtfully on her answers.
“I don’t want to say something that’s not the truth.”
No matter the subject, the answers that follow are almost always punctuated with a big genuine laugh.
“The way I draw, it’s always quite thought out. Everything I put in a drawing is quite intentional. I guess that’s kind of like, I’m not the most chatty person, but when I speak it’s like: Mic drop…”
“…I’m joking. But I’m thoughtful about what I want to say.”
“I do think there’s a lot of noise and stuff out there in the world, so I do want to be intentional. I don’t want to contribute to stuff just for the sake of ‘here’s a nice picture’”.
This intentionality is clear in Stella’s drawings; confident lines and bold colours are staples of her work. However despite this, there’s still an element of instinct to the way she creates.
“I don’t go in with a plan. I’ll draw maybe a room or a setting, and then I’ll let the ideas come.”
“My family don’t have creative backgrounds, so I wasn’t sure of how to make it in that world. I did a graphic design job after Uni, and I realised I couldn’t be in an office environment; I couldn’t handle that many different people around. I just wanted to draw.”
“When I was younger I went to, I think, five different schools. And I think that had an impact. I would retreat into my room and draw a lot and stuff. Maybe there’s a link in that a lot of things I draw it’s like this room, with a little world going on inside. I think drawing was my way to have some constant; something soothing when I was getting uprooted and moved around a lot.”
Stella’s work is influenced by her life and experiences, but there’s also an innateness to her creative expression. She can explain why she draws what she draws, but to ask her to explain why she draws at all is a different matter.
“[Being a Cartoonist] just felt right. There actually isn’t anything else that I entertained doing.”
“Drawing for me used to be a way of getting out my anxiety, I guess. So that used to come up quite a lot. But now, not so much.”
“I’ve been going to the London Buddhist centre every week and meditating and learning what that practice is about. That's what I’m leaning into at the moment, and that has opened up my creativity a lot, I think.”
“[Meditating] makes you look at everything with more awareness. You take stuff in differently.”
“My work was quite pessimistic, and my worldview was quite negative. I think there’s something shifting in my outlook a bit. Because Buddhism is such a nice practice, it’s about love and kindness, I feel like that’s shifting it a bit.”
There’s a sense of cheekiness and playfulness in Stella’s character that permeates her work. These days, you get the sense that she isn’t taking things too seriously.
“I don’t want [my work] to all be trees and rainbows and stuff, but my outlook feels more positive.”
What’s more, Stella is still able to see the humour in juxtaposing elements of her character. When asked if there’s any specific music she listens to when she works, she replies:
“Acid. I like to listen to acid and techno… It’s quite heavy, it’s quite aggressive. And it has to be really loud in my ears. Which is funny, because I’m just drawing a picture.”
In a literal sense, that is all she’s doing. But Stella’s art adds up to so much more. From a method for coping with anxiety, to a demonstration of her worldview shifting in a more positive direction, Stella’s creative expression has grown alongside her, reflecting her experiences, both internally and externally. For Stella, creating art is not a choice but an intrinsic part of her being.
“For people that make art, you don’t know why you do it, you just do it. Because you can’t not.”
Author, Euan Harness
essence of expression 03: stella murphy
Stella Murphy, a cartoonist based in South East London, shares a studio space that reflects the bold lines of her artwork. It’s colourful and extravagant. Posters, ribbons and disco balls adorn the walls and shelves, and a pink sunken conversation pit with a mirrored ceiling fills the centre of the room.
She herself however, is more reserved. Quick to point out a good question, she meditates thoughtfully on her answers.
“I don’t want to say something that’s not the truth.”
No matter the subject, the answers that follow are almost always punctuated with a big genuine laugh.
“The way I draw, it’s always quite thought out. Everything I put in a drawing is quite intentional. I guess that’s kind of like, I’m not the most chatty person, but when I speak it’s like: Mic drop…”
“…I’m joking. But I’m thoughtful about what I want to say.”
“I do think there’s a lot of noise and stuff out there in the world, so I do want to be intentional. I don’t want to contribute to stuff just for the sake of ‘here’s a nice picture’”.
This intentionality is clear in Stella’s drawings; confident lines and bold colours are staples of her work. However despite this, there’s still an element of instinct to the way she creates.
“I don’t go in with a plan. I’ll draw maybe a room or a setting, and then I’ll let the ideas come.”
“My family don’t have creative backgrounds, so I wasn’t sure of how to make it in that world. I did a graphic design job after Uni, and I realised I couldn’t be in an office environment; I couldn’t handle that many different people around. I just wanted to draw.”
“When I was younger I went to, I think, five different schools. And I think that had an impact. I would retreat into my room and draw a lot and stuff. Maybe there’s a link in that a lot of things I draw it’s like this room, with a little world going on inside. I think drawing was my way to have some constant; something soothing when I was getting uprooted and moved around a lot.”
Stella’s work is influenced by her life and experiences, but there’s also an innateness to her creative expression. She can explain why she draws what she draws, but to ask her to explain why she draws at all is a different matter.
“[Being a Cartoonist] just felt right. There actually isn’t anything else that I entertained doing.”
“Drawing for me used to be a way of getting out my anxiety, I guess. So that used to come up quite a lot. But now, not so much.”
“I’ve been going to the London Buddhist centre every week and meditating and learning what that practice is about. That's what I’m leaning into at the moment, and that has opened up my creativity a lot, I think.”
“[Meditating] makes you look at everything with more awareness. You take stuff in differently.”
“My work was quite pessimistic, and my worldview was quite negative. I think there’s something shifting in my outlook a bit. Because Buddhism is such a nice practice, it’s about love and kindness, I feel like that’s shifting it a bit.”
There’s a sense of cheekiness and playfulness in Stella’s character that permeates her work. These days, you get the sense that she isn’t taking things too seriously.
“I don’t want [my work] to all be trees and rainbows and stuff, but my outlook feels more positive.”
What’s more, Stella is still able to see the humour in juxtaposing elements of her character. When asked if there’s any specific music she listens to when she works, she replies: “Acid. I like to listen to acid and techno… It’s quite heavy, it’s quite aggressive. And it has to be really loud in my ears. Which is funny, because I’m just drawing a picture.”
In a literal sense, that is all she’s doing. But Stella’s art adds up to so much more. From a method for coping with anxiety, to a demonstration of her worldview shifting in a more positive direction, Stella’s creative expression has grown alongside her, reflecting her experiences, both internal and external. For Stella, creating art is not a choice but an intrinsic part of her being.
“For people that make art, you don’t know why you do it, you just do it. Because you can’t not.”
Author, Euan Harness
