Murphy Wood Art: A Husband-Wife Triumph

When COVID-19 stopped the world in March of 2020, Kevin Murphy and Margaret Dowling-Murphy of Pearl River’s Murphy Wood Art were just getting started. Though Margaret had always identified as a painter, her work as a high school English teacher, tutor and mother had long taken up most of her time. Shortly before the pandemic, she’d begun to take more of an interest in Kevin’s woodworking. So when the opportunity to take more time experimenting with painting on wood presented itself, a new business for the husband-wife team—one that now makes 300-400 pieces per year—was born.

“It was interesting timing,” Margaret explained. “When my other work came to a halt during the pandemic, I had more time and nervous energy. That’s when I really started cranking out artwork. I hadn’t done any kind of artwork in years because of work and the kids. So once I had that (space), I was able to tap into something that I hadn’t been able to in a long time.”

As with any good team, Margaret and Kevin take advantage of one another’s strengths. While both contribute to making hand-crafted items in metal, wood, acrylic, glass and resin, Kevin handles the woodworking side with flags and mountain-scapes. Margaret, on the other hand, contributes hand-painted aspects to pieces and manages Murphy Wood Art’s social media and website.

Though working together can be challenging at times—particularly when working on projects together—both partners agree the experience is ultimately a rewarding one.

“It’s an interesting, unique dynamic,” said Kevin. “There’s two different personalities at work and we just complement each other…The tricky thing is on top of (work), we’re also running a house with three kids, a dog and other commitments. So that’s the dynamic that comes into play—who gives the other the space to do what they need to do that day?…Overall, that works out really well.”

“We take turns grounding and inspiring each other,” Margaret added.

As Murphy Wood Art approaches its four year business anniversary, the pair find themselves reflecting on how meaningful it is to be able to make specialty items for clients—ones that will decorate their homes for years to come.

“We’ve done a lot of pieces that are very personal to people, either to memorialize someone or as a special gift,” Margaret said. “ For us, the greatest joy is being able to create pieces that are so meaningful and personal to people. People will say they were moved to tears by it, or that it just meant so much to them. The ability to do that for people is incredibly satisfying.”