Norma Murphy (NC), Tea in the Garden

Watercolor on paper, 1987, signed and dated at lower right, matted and framed below glass.

Sight size 14 x 21 in.; Frame dimensions 23 3/8 x 29 1/4 in.

Born and raised in Bethel, in rural Watauga County, Norma Farthing Murphy is known as one of the most imaginative watercolor and mixed-media artists in the High Country.

As a young girl, she would cut and paste photos from the Sears & Roebuck catalogs to make her own paper dolls and creative collages. In 1965, she left North Carolina to study art at Berea College in Kentucky. She later studied at Delaware State University and Appalachian State University.

Murphy stayed in western North Carolina, returning to Watauga County. Her work has been exhibited throughout the state as well as in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and New York City.

Good estate condition, not examined outside the frame.