Akiko Stehrenberger nominated fine artist Christopher Murphy:

"It's always hard to narrow down who influences me most. I have so many great artists and designers around me constantly stimulating me creatively. I'd like to nominate Christopher Murphy for my current inspiration, as I'm trying to get back into oil painting almost 20 years after I last touched turpenoid.
Christopher is a fellow Art Center alumnus and I was first introduced to his work through our mutual friend. His solo show in 2011, Forget That You Were Young, knocked my socks off and I soon became obsessed with his paintings, particularly portraits based off his family photos. One piece in particular, stayed in my brain for many years. Finally realizing that grown ups do indeed buy paintings for their homes, I buckled down and bought his Picking Teams Is Always So Stressful after obsessing over it for about three years. It's the centerpiece of my living room and always sparks conversations by visitors and many thoughts of "Damn it Akiko, get off your ass and oil paint some time!" I always look forward to seeing what Christopher does next."

Christopher Murphy and his work: