"Everything happens for a reason" is one of the most overused statements in the English language. It is also one of the most truthful - just ask Micah Murray.

This past winter, Murray was immersed in his usual routine of all things snowboarding. The 25-year-old York, Maine, resident was promoting youth events around New England, traveling to ski resorts to shoot video for a variety of Web sites, and of course taking to the slopes for his own enjoyment.

But on Feb. 27, the snowboarding, the promoting and the traveling stopped. Murray blew out his knee, enduring a torn medial collateral ligament while snowboarding.

With nothing to do but sit and heal, the 2002 University of New Hampshire graduate turned to painting, something that had for the most part always been a hobby for him.

Murray had been dabbling in art since childhood, painting with acrylics and oils. But in February, lacking an outlet for the first time in his life, he began painting with passion and purpose.

In the process, Murray realized this is what he wants to do with his life. He wants to make a living as an artist.

"Painting is something I had always done in that it was a release for me," Murray said. "I started showing people finished pieces and everyone was really impressed with my work, so I took the next step and started going to galleries."

Along the way, he found a gallery that liked his work.

And so on Saturday night in Dover, Murray begins what he knows will be a formidable journey.

"Abstract Landscapes," Murray's first painting exhibition, will run from July 1 through July 31 at Sights Unscene Gallery at 5A Broadway in Dover.

The official opening of the exhibit is Saturday night, July 2, from 6 to 9 p.m., and featured will be five or six of Murray's prized paintings, along with work from two other artists, Marshall Carbee and Shaune McCarthy. All of Murray's pieces are painted on 4-foot-by-2-foot boards.

"This is a huge step for me to be able to do this," he said.

It's a huge step to break out of a stereotype Murray laughs about having fallen into - the starving artist.

Murray is waiting tables at The Brewery in downtown Portsmouth, and while he enjoys working there, serving baskets of those tasty homemade potato chips isn't his passion.

His true passion will be on display Saturday night. On exhibit at Sights Unscene will be examples of Murray's acrylic and oil painting, each of which involves a different process for him.

When using acrylic paint, Murray saturates it with a lot of water, then applies it with a brush. He lets it blend on its own, but will hold a piece up and manipulate it with his breath and a hair dryer.

Murray stays true to basic brush strokes, though, when using oil paint.

He generally works on two or three pieces at a time, just to keep himself "fresh." Murray depends on feedback as part of his artistic process.

His work is sometimes influenced by the opinions of artists he knows and respects. The combination of his perspective and their feedback has helped him create work he is proud of.

The person whose opinion matters most to Murray when it comes to his art is Portland, Maine-based artist Tessa O'Brien.

The pair met in 1997 in a summer program at the Maine College of Art and have been close friends ever since.

And for the record, Murray's recent transformation from snowboard aficionado to serious artist is something O'Brien saw coming long ago.

"I've always thought of him as an artist," she said. "He'd been doing a lot of soul-searching. Then last summer at the festival, that was a big awakening for him."

Last summer, Murray and O'Brien painted murals at the Bonnarroo music festival in Manchester, Tenn. O'Brien said Murray received a great deal of positive feedback and that experience got him thinking more seriously about his art.

He is doing just that, and his motivation is obvious. Murray is giving himself a year to make some headway as a professional artist, which isn't much time.

But as O'Brien said, Murray works best under pressure.

"I'm still pretty young to make a name for myself in the art industry," he admitted. "But I'll make a run at it for the next year. I've got to be thinking this will be the most successful thing I can do."

O'Brien hopes when that year is up, he gives himself another year or as long as it takes.

Regardless of what the next year brings, Murray is excited about the opening of his exhibit Saturday night, and hopes it will be the first of many successful showings.

"I'd like to network further and hopefully more shows will spawn off this one," he said.

For those unable to attend, Murray's work can be viewed on his personal Web site, www.micahmurray.com. Prints of his work, as well as actual finished pieces, can be purchased on the site.

But Murray would rather see you in person. "Come and chill; look at some art and talk to the artists," he said.

Among those artists will be Micah Murray. If his passion takes him where he believes it can, it's a name you might see a lot more of in the coming years.

Mike Sullivan is a Herald Sunday columnist. He can be reached at mikesullivan@seacoastonline.com.

PHOTO: Micah Murray of York, Maine, displays two of his paintings that will be on display at Sights Unscene Gallery in Dover.
Credit - Mike Sullivan

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