butch’s sculpture practice came late in life as he searched for a meaningful form of expression and creativity when leaving behind a wonderful professional life as a pulmonologist. He was mentored by his long term friendship with Bonnie Baxter and Michel Beaudry, both recognized as accomplished artists, giving him hints, encouraging him without dogma. Murphy’s life long partner, Corva, with her foundation in Art History, provided an academic data base. butch continues benefiting by the support of the members of Oval Table, an artist salon organized in 2016, and other collegial artists. Along with Corva, they formed in 2017 and continue to produce another stimulating organization, The Art Soirée Series, where 2 artists, from all creative forms, quarterly explore with an interactive audience their life of creativity, be it performance or visual arts.
Early on, he exhibited in galleries in Columbia, Missouri, with a solo show of 7 sculptures at the Ashby Hodge Gallery of American Art(2018) at Central Methodist University. In 2022 he was approached by The Bunker Center for the Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, to show 7 recent horse sculptures in the spring of 2023, titled, Selected Works by butch. The exposure opened new excitement for his works. A Kansas City Art Critic, John Hastings commented on butch's sculptures as "that arresting line common to anything neolithic has me looking at all sorts of animals. From horses to humans. To pieces by "butch,: who takes that line and finds the sweet spot." His sculptures have also been described by sculptor and Professor, Rick Salafia, as good examples of "analytic abstraction" that doesn't leave the sources behind yet manages to avoid direct representation."
With Murphy’s networking, he developed several ongoing venues for public display of his works in Mid Missouri, Kansas Flint Hills, the Kansas City metro area, De Soto, Kansas, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Although he has focused on horses for models, he explores other forms of pure abstraction. After opening his atelier(studio) in 2011, he has now completed 60 abstract equine sculptures among other abstractions. In 2021, he was advanced to a higher level of acknowledgement when one of his sculptures standing across the street from the Kemper Museum of Modern Art in Kansas City, was stolen and with the exception of its tail, it was never recovered.
Early on, he exhibited in galleries in Columbia, Missouri, with a solo show of 7 sculptures at the Ashby Hodge Gallery of American Art(2018) at Central Methodist University. In 2022 he was approached by The Bunker Center for the Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, to show 7 recent horse sculptures in the spring of 2023, titled, Selected Works by butch. The exposure opened new excitement for his works. A Kansas City Art Critic, John Hastings commented on butch's sculptures as "that arresting line common to anything neolithic has me looking at all sorts of animals. From horses to humans. To pieces by "butch,: who takes that line and finds the sweet spot." His sculptures have also been described by sculptor and Professor, Rick Salafia, as good examples of "analytic abstraction" that doesn't leave the sources behind yet manages to avoid direct representation."
With Murphy’s networking, he developed several ongoing venues for public display of his works in Mid Missouri, Kansas Flint Hills, the Kansas City metro area, De Soto, Kansas, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Although he has focused on horses for models, he explores other forms of pure abstraction. After opening his atelier(studio) in 2011, he has now completed 60 abstract equine sculptures among other abstractions. In 2021, he was advanced to a higher level of acknowledgement when one of his sculptures standing across the street from the Kemper Museum of Modern Art in Kansas City, was stolen and with the exception of its tail, it was never recovered.