Brendan Murphy is an artist, painter, entrepreneur, philanthropist, designer and founder of Solfire and the 15 Foundation.
Solfire which signifies Brendan’s soul, fire, passion, and drive is a non-traditional tennis gear brand created by Murphy with light and breathable fabrics. These functional and stylish active wear are suited for the court, gym and as regular casual wear. Brendan has incorporated his passion for non-traditional art with vibrant colors and shapes into his designs. The solfire label or logo found on each gear is a representation of his painting and art, a brand (tattoo) he wore on his body from his teenage years. Solfire lifestyle wear has been sported by tennis player Tommy Haas, Robin Quivers, Tom Cavanaugh, Taye Diggs and others.
Brendan believes in the development of children through education, and has joined forces with radio personality Robin Quivers of the Howard Stern Show to create the 15 Foundation. The 15 Foundation’s aim is to support charities that make a difference in the lives of children through education.
The organization has been very successful in raising over $200,000 in the last six (6) months to help local charities.
Brendan Murphy is based in Miami and also has a studio in New York.
In a conversation with Brendan Murphy, he discusses his new title, the designer and the future of Solfire.
Solfire active wear ranges from $20-$35 and can be found at http://www.solfiregear.com/solfire-shop-home.
_By Daedrian McNaughton
On His Paintings
Brendan Murphy: I generally work on large scale paintings, they are a cross between abstract and figurative. I like to use the woman as the figure. I use some symbols of animals to represent tying the relationship between a man and a woman. I use a lot of color and movements. A lot of times my good paintings they look different, so you get a different feeling. That is what I am after. I am doing different things that I don’t think is traditional and it does not fit the contemporary style of painting, which a lot of the more contemporary paintings use a lot of the tools that are provided on the computer. I don’t use that, I still have a heavy hand, I use the brush a lot. I use a lot of paint when I am in the studio.
On Art Basel
Brendan Murphy: I have been at Art Basel for 7 years now. I am hoping to do my own exhibition at the same time as I did last year. It is a lot of exposure. It is a good place to get a feel for what the art world thinks of your paintings, if that is something you are looking for. It is a lot of exposure and generally a good place to show.
On Solfire as a Brand:
Brendan Murphy: Solfire is an extension of my creativity and of my art. I really value my painting in the process. I have been faced with the challenge to commercialize that process, instead I felt that Solfire-which has been with me since I was a kid. I have the logo tattooed to me. The fire, the soul, the idea of being genuine; that always existed. I look at it as more of an extension, just 
another vehicle for me to create and I thought that Solfire provided a larger platform to bring people together. This is really what I would like to do. I connect people through my exhibitions, but when you sell a painting to a wealthy collector, the painting goes into a big home and that’s the end of that process. I wanted to share more of my creativity and hopefully bring people together, and I think that Solfire is giving me that platform. My paintings are still very sacred to me and have a level of integrity that I did not want to jeopardize by commercializing the painting.
On Being a Designer
Brendan Murphy: People look at me through the clothing as a designer than an painter/artist. That’s fun because I have always been a painter. My favorite part of this process is designing new shirts and new clothes, and figuring out what people like in terms of colors and trying new things. That is a fun process, so I usually end up falling back on to the creative process. The business nuts and bolts is probably my least favorite, but it’s 
necessary.
Competitions in Sporting Gear
Brendan Murphy: We entered the market through tennis and we took a grassroots approach making products that suit the more recreational player. This is someone who plays tennis, goes to the gym and yoga. It’s not just the traditional country club tennis player. We make products that are cross functional and it makes us different. We are a creative people and Solfire makes creative products, we feel we have a niche. Nike, Addidas are all function, we want to be the brand that allows you to have style and function. A lot of our customers are musicians, actors, artists, so when they go to workout they wear Solfire. We are not trying to compete with the big guys as much as trying to find our little space.
Find out more about Brendan Murphy’s paintings here, http://www.brendanmurphyart.com/.