Sean Murtha
smurtha.bsky.social
Sean Murtha
@smurtha.bsky.social
I'm a painter of birds and landscape, in oil and watercolor. My day-job is creating exhibits for museums, specializing in dioramas. When I can squeeze it in, I'm also a folk musician, focusing on traditional Irish music.
"Homecoming" has been accepted into the 50th annual "Birds In Art" exhibit at the Woodson Museum in Wausua, WI! This is the premier show for avian inspired art and I am thrilled to have made the cut this year, with a painting that came out of my experience in Antarctica in 2023. #birdsinart
May 3, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I am proud that "Antarctic Terns" has been selected for the 65th annual exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists! This year the show opens on September 18th in Idaho Falls. A studio oil painting based on a watercolor done from life in Antarctica. #birdart #oilpainting #societyofanimalartists
April 25, 2025 at 2:38 AM
I had to take a break from freelance work and deadlines, and found a quick pencil sketch in one of my Antarctic sketchbooks that compelled me to explore this scene in oil.
April 9, 2025 at 1:58 AM
A plein-air oil from Sunday, "tweaked" slightly in the studio. This was painted in Essex, Connecticut, on the river which gives the state its name. "River Ice", 2025, oil 8x12
February 25, 2025 at 11:52 PM
I painted this in the fjords of Chile back in the Autumn, and it will be on view at the Lyme Art Association for their "Exhibition in Four Acts", opening on February 28 and continuing through April 10. Opening reception March 2 from 2-4pm.
"Agostini in the Rain", 2024, watercolor, 6"x9"
February 22, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Yesterday I heard the sad news of the passing of Helen Hays, an ornithological giant who ran the tern nesting colony at Great Gull island for a half-century. Her impact on tern populations and the people who care about them is unmeasurable. Here she appears in a painting I did there in 2015.
February 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
A little sketch during lunchbreak. I’m hoping the crane isn’t there to make “ improvements” that might make this nearby scene less paintable.
January 23, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Last nights conjunction, or occultation, of Mars and the moon.
January 14, 2025 at 12:10 PM
My first Bluesky Post- a watercolor from this autumn that is included in "First Impressions" at the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, CT. The show opens this weekend, with a reception on Sunday at 4 pm.
January 9, 2025 at 3:52 AM