Vendor Partner Spotlight: Allyson Murphy Art

Allyson Murphy Art joined us as a Vendor Partner for the SimplyNCgoods August 2024 box.

Allyson Murphy, the artist behind Allyson Murphy Art, provided a vibrant art print of her rendition of the Linn Cove Viaduct portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall for inclusion in this box. This print provides those who received a SimplyNCgoods box with a taste of North Carolina’s unique beauty.

Image includes photo of the art print discussed in the blog post, and the title of the post - "Vendor Partner Spotlight: Allyson Murphy Art"

Art Print Highlight

Allyson shared a bit about her background and the Viaduct print with us:

“Fall is by far my favorite season of the year. I love hiking and being outside when the leaves are changing. My Viaduct piece, in particular, is one of my favorites as the color is especially vibrant, celebrating the unique beauty of the Appalachian mountains in the fall.”

Image of a white woman with red-blonde hair in a braid over her left shoulder. She is wearing a color block jacket with blue, pink, and yellow. She is standing in front of a large plant with fuschia flowers. — Allyson Murphy, the artist behind Allyson Murphy Art.

We selected Allyson’s Viaduct print for inclusion in this SimplyNCgoods box because the Linn Cove Viaduct is a distinctively NC location. From the Blue Ridge Parkway website, “The Linn Cove Viaduct hugs the face of Grandfather Mountain and is recognized internationally as an engineering marvel.” This 7-mile section of the Parkway was specially designed to preserve the habitat of the area.

We appreciate how this print showcases Allyson’s talent, while also highlighting the natural beauty and ingenuity found in NC.

Image of the art print referred to in the text. The road known as Linn Cove Viaduct curves around the outside of a mountain landscape and is surrounded by trees in various colors of orange, red, and green to represent the changing colors of the fall season. — The Viaduct art print included in the August 2024 SimplyNCgoods box.

The Story of Allyson Murphy Art

Like all small businesses, Allyson Murphy Art has a story behind how it got started. Allyson is originally from New York, but has called Boone, NC home for the last 5 years. She was kind enough to share with us a bit about her background, and the story of Allyson Murphy Art.

From Allyson:

“My father is an art professor, and ever since I can remember I have always been encouraged to have a sketchbook in hand. Growing up I loved painting and I studied studio art in college. After college, while traveling and working an array of jobs out West, I started sketching pen outlines and then thickly layering watercolor paint. I enjoy the vibrancy of thick watercolor with the addition of pen outlining and hatching to help the image become bright and bold. I have been painting in this style for over six years now and have created works featuring many places I lived in and/or traveled to including scenes from New York, Montana, Ohio, West Virginia, and California, as well as scenes from my experience thru-hiking the 2,650 mile long Pacific Crest Trail in 2021.

I have lived in Boone, NC for the past five years and notably, my work now centers around and highlights an ever-growing repertoire of regionally familiar North Carolina viewpoints. I am grateful to live in area with such a vibrant art community. I enjoy being a member of the Watauga Arts Council, vending at local markets and festivals, selling my work in shops around town, and fulfilling commission orders. I hope that my work can help bring back feelings of home, familiarity, and memories for the viewer just as they do for me.”

It’s obvious from Allyson’s work that she appreciates her natural surroundings and brings her artistic skill to creating lovely pieces that reflect this appreciation.

Some North Carolina Love

SimplyNCgoods is all about loving and sharing North Carolina. We invited Allyson to share about her perspective on NC, and here is what she said:

“I love that living in western North Carolina has tied me back to [my mom’s] roots in Appalachia, stories of growing up in the mountains, summer days spent on the river, family members playing banjo on the porch, and more. I now am so grateful to find myself sitting on my own porch with my partner, watching fireflies light up the night sky with distant hazy blue mountains in the background.”

Image of an art print created by Allyson Murphy. Image includes an abandoned white house with a brown roof. In the background are brown and green mountains.

Staying Connected with Allyson Murphy Art

You have several options for staying connected with Allyson and Allyson Murphy Art, ensuring you can always find unique art pieces in the style of the Viaduct print included in the most recent SimplyNCgoods box.

Visit Allyson Murphy Art on Etsy to purchase items online.

Follow Allyson Murphy Art on Instagram to keep up with the latest news.

We appreciate Allyson and Allyson Murphy Art being a part of the SimplyNCgoods story as a Vendor Partner for our August 2024 subscription box.

SimplyNCgoods is a quarterly subscription box service that brings unique products made by NC-based artisans directly to your door. Learn more at www.SimplyNCgoods.com and be sure to follow along on Facebook and Instagram.

SimplyNCgoods Vendor Partner Spotlight posts are one of the marketing opportunities that we offer to our Vendor Partners. We hope this helps introduce more folks to these talented artisans, and give you more opportunities to #SupportLocal and #ShopSmall in North Carolina.