Creatures of the Light at The Royal Watercolour Society

He stood, alive in the river of light,

Among the creatures of light, creatures of light …

When James Murray recalled the poem, This Morning by Ted Hughes, he realised it perfectly encapsulated how he felt about rivers and the salmon that inhabit them.

Now through a new exhibition, Creatures of the Light, the 49-year-old hopes to highlight them again, merging his conservation work with art.

‘I've been creative since I was a teenager, but my school wasn’t great at encouraging the arts. I have a degree in history of art and film which got me into what I am known for now, as an actor.'

Canvasses were submerged in eight rivers for three months over the winter. And James has been very successful at it with lead roles in BBC drama Cutting It, alongside his now wife Sarah Parish, Geek Girls, Apple television series Masters of the Air and most recently The Crown.

Born in Manchester and an alumni of Manchester University, James lives in Alresford with Sarah and their 14-year-old daughter Nelly. When they tragically lost their first daughter after she was born with a heart defect, it was fishing and later art that gave James an outlet for his grief.

‘I started painting out of nowhere again and I haven't stopped since; that was 16 years ago now.’

James soon built up a stock of paintings and needing to make room, added a couple into a charity auction.

‘Sarah and I run the Murray Parish Trust, we put a few of them in a charity auction. I never thought for a minute that people would want to buy them.’

James wanted to create a connection with the river and the artworks.

It led to his first solo exhibition last year, In Flow at the Ark in Winchester – an abstract response to works of John Constable with his paintings exhibited alongside.

Inspired by the 1950s New York abstract movement, James prefers to paint on big canvases, finding them freer to work with. He describes it as ‘action painting’.

‘The developing theme was big, gestural, abstract movements. Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter were all using big sweeping gestures. If you get it right, it can really be an impactful piece of work.’

The idea for his latest exhibition came from the conceptual artist, David Buckland who suggested James highlight the rivers through his art.

The Test by James Murray Although reticent to use the word activist, James is passionate about conservation, in particular rivers and the plight of Atlantic salmon. ‘It just so happens both those things are struggling at the moment', he explains. 'UK Atlantic salmon have been officially recognised as endangered. David said to me have you ever thought about marrying your activism with your work? You've done these wonderful abstract landscapes of the ocean, do a collaboration with the rivers. My first thought was that he's off his rocker!

‘But art is a fantastic medium for reflecting society and culture. It's more impactful, more thoughtful and probably a truer reflection on people's psyche than perhaps a reactive tweet or Instagram post.’

James was then posed with a different challenge, how to combine the two.

‘I thought we’ll put them in the river and let the river do something.’

Using natural pigment and dyes, James painted each canvas in the colours that came to him from each river. The 48 individual pieces were then submerged in eight rivers including The Dee, The Itchen and a protected river in the Outer Hebrides.

The Wye by James Murray His first project was the River Dee as he remembers: ‘I've fished a lot on the Dee and the King is patron of the Atlantic Salmon Trust. With the Tay, I got a pinky salmon colour and a bit of green and the Wye was very dark green with a bit of gold. All the colours meant something to me, I pre-painted some in quite abstract ways, others where more literal.’

The canvasses were left immersed in the rivers for several months, mirroring the spawning season of salmon to represent birth, death, life and hope. ‘I thought it was a nice analogy,’ adds James.

James then worked with the faded colours and what each river had revealed.

‘I tinker with it, I'm a bit freer with it because it's been in the river and use acrylic paints and oils. I've also been using a lot of powders because they tend to work well with the visuals. Sediment also gives it texture. Visually, it’s telling a story in an abstract way.’

The Dee by James Murray I imagine that the colours would wash away. ‘It doesn’t fade as much as you imagine,' James explains. 'For instance, in chalk streams the paint hardly faded at all, so they're quite vibrant.’

Some of the canvases have been cut into small sections with others remaining large pieces of work.

James still works in his studio in the garage at home, but tells me it has had a bit of an upgrade. ‘It’s a great space and when the weather permits, I'm outside,’ he smiles.

The only drawback was the slight … pong. ‘I was a bit concerned,’ he admits. ‘Certain rivers are quite pungent and obviously the material holds the smell. However, I thought it could well be a selling point, you're not just getting the visuals of the river you're getting the sensory smell of it, but actually the smell went after a couple of months.’

The Itchen by James Murray Being a big fan of poetry, the Ted Hughes poem fitted with the narrative and gave James the perfect title for the exhibition.

‘That's exactly what salmon are to me, they are creatures of light. They are the most impressive, majestic, otherworldly creature.

‘There's something about how they have evolved and adapted. From a little tributary of a river, it travels thousands of miles out to sea. Then after a year or even three years, returns to the same place. It's nature at its most impressive.

The Tay by James Murray ‘The state of our rivers today is now thankfully, national news. The public are aware and apathy is being replaced by action. Rivers are the arteries to the country, I know that sounds a cliché but they are incredibly important places when it comes to our mental health, our physical health. Everyone is moved by water.

‘When Ella-Jayne died, I spent a lot of time fly fishing, rivers helped me iron out a lot of creases and for that I owe them everything. That’s why I guess I'm so passionate about trying to save them.’

See James' exhibition, Creatures of the Light at The Royal Watercolour Society, Trafalgar Square, London from November 7-10