I have always had some sort of connection to the sea. The smell of it, the feel of it, the calm and the fury...

JULIE BOWERS MURPHY / ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I find myself often exploring the lives of those who are dependent upon the sea for work - the longshoremen, the lighthouse keepers,  the lobstermen, the sailors, the salts. What is it that drives one to work on the oceans? The power of the ocean--the solitude, the loneliness, yet also the camaraderie, and endless possibility of finding new worlds and escaping others...the sea provides the perfect tension for a never-ending story for my work.