Who I Am

Inspiration

River running, scuba diving, and time in the wilderness is where Torgesen gets the inspiration for her paintings. They show the reality of nature as it really is deep in the woods. Nature is twisted, dramatic, showy, tangled, contrasting in lights and darks, gorgeous and frightening or in a word - wild. Adventure time for the last 14 years has been spent on a four person raft rowing and running the Salmon (“The River of No Return”), the Middlefork of the Salmon, the Payette Canyon run, the Green River, Desolation Canyon, the Owyhee, and Hells Canyon. Finally after being on the waiting list for 14 years, the group rowed themselves through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River where the rapids are rated 1-10 and some are as big as the side of a house with holes you have to avoid or die. The scenery is spectacular. Torgesen has also been on many deep water ocean dives (yes and has seen shark many times). Torgesen has been on many deep water ocean dives (yes and has seen shark many times). She and her husband also enjoy four wheeling on their ranch in the mountain river country of Idaho where they live.

Childhood

Torgesen grew up on a large ranch in southeastern Idaho taking care of horses, cattle, and sheep. There weren’t many other children to play with so drawing and painting took up a large chunk of playtime. Living on a ranch with parents whose ancestors were from Norway, Germany, Wales, and England meant having a great work ethic was required. Today she still owns and operates a large dry farm and cattle range with the Blackfoot river running through it surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery. These views show up in her paintings.

Education

Torgesen has a BFA degree with honors in Fine Art. Since graduating, every year has been filled with teaching workshops and taking workshops. Harley Brown and Joseph Mugnaini have been great mentors as well as Sergei Bongart and Ovanes Berberian. Travel has been another great educator. It all started with backpacking on the trains through Europe with her husband. Then month long trips to Spain, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Greece, Brazil and the Amazon, China, and etc. etc. Every country has amazing art to ferret out, galleries to explore, and ideas to treasure. Last year the trip to Turkey, Austria, Hungary, and the Czechoslavakia turned out to be one of the best ever. Of course she says that after every trip. Spending an entire day in Budapest in front of the series of paintings of the history of the Russian people by Alphonse Mucha with their gigantic multifigured scenes showing masterful use of cools and warms and dramatic lighting was worth years of study. Then on to Vienna where Gustav Klimt dominates museums with his creativity. Torgesen has been to over 40 countries. In 2002 Torgesen was privileged to study for a month at the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia under Igor Vademovich Petrov. The State Art Museum in St. Petersburg is filled with the works of Repin, Ivanov, and Levitan. Torgesen fell in love with the bold brushwork, heavy color and value, and the drama of the Russian people. She traded drawings with her instructor and he said, “He hoped she had learned something from him because he had learned so much from her.” He also compared her drawings with music, saying her use of thick and thin line, and the movement and flow of design reminded him of a musical composition.

Painting

Torgesen is small in stature, barely 5 feet tall, but her art friends and collectors deem her mighty because she has no fear of painting rather gigantic work. A special Hughes easel moves at the touch of a finger up and down and to the right or left. Her spacious studio is in the mountains where moose sleep on the lawn, deer run through the trees, and eagles visit. She can plein air paint gorgeous landscapes in every direction. Last month she taught a watercolor workshop to 25 students about all the aspects of painting on masa. However, her main emphasis is oil painting. She loves figurative work and meets with a professional group for model sessions every week where they draw or paint. Her travels have lead her to collect hats and costumes which make model work even more fun. Also, her studio is full of fabulous still life objects which she sets up for workshops in oil or for demonstration paintings. Torgesen has very strong feelings about the importance of painting from life where all the decisions must be made by the artist. From all her experience, about 15 years ago Torgesen developed unique ways of working with oil paint. These techniques allow her to create the unusual and dramatic textures that surround us in nature. Torgesen does not use her computer to design nor does she paint from photographs, only referring to them as a reminder. She is like a zen painter. She immerses herself in nature by running rivers, scuba diving, and living in it. As a serious observer, she takes these ideas of nature as they truly are and shoots from the hip. She remembers the feeling and captures the light, drama, and intricacies of nature in her paintings. William Shakespeare said in “As You Like It” “This our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” Torgesen Murdock is a modern impressionistic painter. She uses brush strokes, design and innovative techniques to create paintings that reveal the intrigue of nature as it truly is. The purpose of her work is to remove the viewer from their daily routine as they take an imaginary walk back into the image on the canvas. There the viewer is free to make new discoveries and to remember old ones. There is nothing static in Torgesen Murdock’s work. Her collectors comment that her art changes with the time of day as well as the mood of the viewer. Her work invites multiple interactions over the process of time. Albert Einstein said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” Torgesen Murdock’s landscapes are an effort to do just that. Take a little time to study her work and look deeply into it. Torgesen loves to do huge paintings that set the tone for corporate headquarters. She has done many such commissions. Great architecture can make a statement. The right paintings can greatly enhance the beauty of that experience. Torgesen’s work is in the entryways and on the executive floors of corporate business buildings, hospitals, universities, and homes in the western United States. She has also been represented by many fine galleries over the years in Jackson, Wyoming, Sun Valley, Idaho, San Francisco and Carmel, California.

Personal

Torgesen and her husband have raised 5 wonderful children who are professionals in architecture, accounting, opera performance, marketing, and public relations. They are all artistic and musical. She has 11 grandchildren.