FUN IN THE COUNTRY

Liz Murray’s quirky paintings are highly sought after by countryside enthusiasts. Susie Kearley discovers how the former NHS doctor’s inspiration was originally sparked by visits to a family smallholding

Former NHS doctor Liz Murray turned her attentions to painting and went on to create a hugely successful business selling fine art that is fun, unusual, unique and with a definite appeal to small farmers. Since becoming a full-time artist in 2016, Liz has created beautiful paintings of every British countryside animal imaginable, but these artworks are extra eyecatching and appealing because every single one of the animals she portrays sports some form of human clothing. Highland cattle wear wide-brimmed hats; pheasants can be seen in wellies, dairy cows in farmers’ caps and hares in scarves or gilets.

As I peruse her pictures, my eyes are drawn to a painting of geese getting married. One is sporting a top hat, the other a bridal veil. Liz shows me a similar painting of two loved-up pheasants, also in wedding garb, and she goes on to point out that her painted pictures of dogs in Wellington boots also wearing bow ties or caps are popular among dog owners. Sheep, in boots too, are firm favourites among her clientele as well.

Liz began painting at a young age and was constantly creative during any spare time she found herself with. She worked on fine art commissions part-time while studying at university; she qualified as a doctor in 2011, worked in a hospital for six years, but eventually gave all that up to pursue her dream of spending her days with a paintbrush in hand and a rainbow of colours in a palette by her side.

“I loved working with patients, and I felt privileged to be able to assist people who were at their most vulnerable,” says Liz, who spent a year in A&E at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, before a stint in obstetrics and gynaecology at King’s Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. A year in paediatrics followed and then two years of senior house officer work and, subsequently, training to be a GP. However, the long hours and demanding work took their toll.