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Murphy Elliott - Fine Artist
Cosmic Artist Murphy Art. Elliott by David Harris
Murphy Elliott's futuristic oil paintings can be found winning awards in international art contests, featured in space magazines and adding color to the National Space Society's website.
But in Plant City, they know him as one of the best house painters in town.
To understand Murphy's art, you have to understand Murphy's personal history – his genius, his childhood, his passion for the future of the human race – and how those elements add up to spectacular and prophesying oils on canvas painted at night, and homes and offices immaculately painted during the day.
Murphy Elliott's parents placed him in foster care when he was five years old, along with his older sister and two younger brothers. His dad was a house painter, but when Billy Graham channeled the power of the Almighty and apparently cured his tuberculosis, he took to fire-and-brimstone Pentecostal preaching to big-tent revivals. His mother waxed theatrical, too, but her flavor was burlesque. The marriage didn't last.
Murphy's foster family realized he was gifted, especially in mathematics. But his talent for drawing got him noticed when he started school in the second grade at Elizabeth W. Murphy private school. His teacher was impressed with a photograph-like sketch of a rotary telephone Murphy handed her. Murphy went out to recess, and when he returned to the classroom, the drawing was gone. The teacher felt bad for his loss. He was so proud and needed the attention. She looked at the black board that stretched 12 feet wide and offered it to Murphy to draw a scene of Christmas.
