{"id":30905,"date":"2019-01-07T11:09:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T11:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=30905"},"modified":"2019-01-07T11:09:39","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T11:09:39","slug":"meeting-malcolm-the-artist-who-paints-cardiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/01\/07\/meeting-malcolm-the-artist-who-paints-cardiff\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Malcolm: the artist who captures Cardiff's beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT\u00a0wasn\u2019t difficult to spot which house belonged to Malcolm Murphy.\u00a0 Looking down a\u00a0Splott\u00a0street of traditional terraced houses, his stood out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nIt contrasted with the traditional grey, white and brown stone houses and was painted duck egg blue.\u00a0 As I approached the front door, I noticed something striking on the glass.\u00a0 It was a Welsh dragon with the words\u00a0Ty Mel<\/i>\u00a0written above it, all in gold.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nMalcolm, 47, is an artist.\u00a0 I came across his work on Twitter after his friend Alan Bretos, 52, from Llandaff North, shared one of his\u00a0paintings.\u00a0 It was a take on Church Street, looking past Greggs and Caf\u00e9 Citta to St John The Baptist City Parish Church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nI asked Alan why he wanted to promote Malcolm\u2019s work. \u201cHis paintings of famous and not so famous landmarks are unique. I think he will, in years to come, be a local legend,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThat is exactly why I was at Malcolm\u2019s house.\u00a0 I wanted to understand the person behind the paintings,\u00a0the man\u00a0who brings beauty to ordinary sights around Cardiff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhen Malcolm answered the door, he\u00a0greeted\u00a0me with warmth.\u00a0 He had a big smile on his face and kindness in his eyes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cNice to see you Lucy, come in,\u201d he said rolling up the sleeves of his grey jumper, \u201cI\u2019ll put the kettle on right away.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\nMalcolm seemed like a family friend you had known for years, he\u00a0was\u00a0open and hospitable. The interior of his house reflected this:\u00a0it\u00a0was a warm, well looked after family home.\u00a0 Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.\u00a0<\/span>
\nMalcolm had promised to show me some paintings.\u00a0 At first, I wondered if he had forgotten.\u00a0 I could see no examples out in his lounge or kitchen, other than a few framed paintings on the walls.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nOne was an\u00a0idyllic\u00a0painting of\u00a0Roath\u00a0Park \u2013 it was\u00a0one\u00a0of Malcolm\u2019s originals.\u00a0 The calming blues of the lake reflected the blues of the sky, and its depth of field made it feel as though you could jump in and stroll down the path.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cWould you like to see my studio?\u201d\u00a0Malcolm\u00a0asked.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nI thought he might have a separate studio\u00a0\u2013 perhaps in his garage or maybe in a warehouse somewhere down the road,\u00a0though I didn\u2019t recall seeing one.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nI followed him out of his lounge,\u00a0past his\u00a0hallway and into\u00a0a small\u00a0room\u00a0opposite\u00a0\u2013 we were there.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cI worked in workshops for 15 years, where I did traditional sign writing\u00a0and theme park signs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cI went to those workshops because I thought I couldn\u2019t fit an eight by four-foot\u00a0sheet into the house. I can\u2019t remember what it was for, but I got it to fit.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cI thought, hang on, I could convert this room into a workshop and see how it develops.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cThat was four years\u00a0ago,\u00a0and I\u00a0haven’t\u00a0needed to go to a workshop since \u2013 touch wood,\u201d Malcolm said, when I asked how his in-house workshop\u00a0came about.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe room looked just like a professional workshop, just smaller, with several works dotted around it.\u00a0 The walls were mostly bare, apart from a few splashes and\u00a0splodges\u00a0of paint.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThere was an easel in the\u00a0centre\u00a0of the room. On it, was an instantly\u00a0recognisable\u00a0painting of\u00a0Penarth\u00a0Pier that Malcolm had nearly finished.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nBehind it, stood a painting of\u00a0City Road on a rainy day.\u00a0 Somehow, Malcolm had\u00a0turned\u00a0this mundane, dreary scene into something charming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
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