Through Stu Murphy’s Eyes: an Oceanstays Artist Residency
Win Stu Murphy’s framed Yamba artwork and a $500 Oceanstays accommodation voucher
Enter the giveaway
“Art, to me, is a medium through which I interpret and relay the beauty and intricacies of the natural world.”
— Stu Murphy
There is a reason we hold artists so close to our hearts at Oceanstays.
In the hurry of daily life, we often rush past the details that ground us: the shift of the tide, the patterns of sand beneath clear water, the way morning light plays across an estuary.
Artists invite us to pause. Through their work, those details become stories we can connect with, each shaped by a different perspective, memory or feeling.
That connection is something we want you to experience in our holiday homes across the Northern Rivers. An artwork might make you curious about the river nearby, remind you of a morning by the sea or reveal something you hadn’t noticed. It becomes part of how you experience a place, and what you remember when you leave.
We want the art in our homes to carry those stories, and we want you to know the people who create it.
That is why we created our Artist in Residence Program: to give artists time and space to explore, express themselves and share their way of seeing with you.
Australian artist and aerial photographer Stu Murphy joined us at Crest on Convent in Yamba, exploring the local landscape through his lens.
Meet Stu Murphy
Where Art Meets Science
Stu’s relationship with the landscape began with environmental science. Rivers, wetlands and the ecosystems they support continue to shape both his curiosity and his creative work.
For more than a decade, he has explored photography, linocut stencils, spray paint and acrylic painting. His aerial photography takes him from the wetlands and estuaries of the NSW north coast to the deserts of Australia’s interior.
From above, familiar landscapes reveal something new. Tidal lines become patterns. Sand and water meet in unexpected colours. Details that are easy to miss from the ground become the focus.
A three-time finalist in the Australian Photography Awards, Stu has exhibited across regional NSW and Sydney. His work invites us to look closely at the natural world and consider our relationship with it.
It’s an invitation we’re happy to share.
His Yamba home: Crest on Convent
During his residency, Stu stayed at Crest on Convent on Yamba Hill, spending his days exploring and photographing the surrounding landscape.
Having a home for a few days gives you time to settle into a place. To head out without fitting everything into one afternoon. To return to a spot that caught your eye and see it again in a different light.
That is part of what we hope to offer through our residencies: time to explore, room for ideas and an Oceanstays home to come back to.
Stu’s Residency Stay
Crest on Convent
Make yourself at home in Yamba, just as Stu did.
Find your stayCheck your dates for availability, total pricing and stay terms.
Crest on Convent reviews
4.75 / 5
Get to know Crest on Convent through the guests who have made themselves at home here.
Read guest reviewsMoments from Stu’s residency
Meet the artist, explore his work and revisit his time with us.
@oceanstays.com.au
There’s something about waking up on Yamba Hill
that makes you want to look a little longer.
Watch on Instagram ↗
@stu_murphy_australian_artist
I’m the artist in residence this coming week at Crest
on Convent in Yamba. Follow along to see what I get up to.
Watch on Instagram ↗
@oceanstays.com.au
A different angle. A different appreciation.
A reminder that sometimes you need to change your
perspective to really see what’s been there all along.
Watch on Instagram ↗
@stu_murphy_australian_artist
Rounding off a cracking North coast winter week
stitching a little footage together.
Watch on Instagram ↗
@crestonconvent
This piece is now hanging upstairs for our guests to enjoy.
Come see it for yourself 🎨 View on Instagram ↗
Behind the Artwork
A little Yamba to bring home
The Yamba artwork pictured here offers a different way to see a familiar coastline, drawing attention to the colours, textures and patterns revealed from above.
Printed on premium 380 gsm canvas and presented in a handcrafted Tasmanian oak floating frame, the 50 × 70 cm work is the piece featured in our giveaway.
A view to return to long after your time by the coast.
A piece to keep. A place to escape.
Win Framed Artwork + $500 Oceanstays Voucher ($1,500 Total Value)
To celebrate Stu’s residency, we’re giving one lucky winner his framed Yamba artwork pictured here, together with a $500 Oceanstays accommodation voucher.
A prize worth $1,500, bringing a little of the coast into your home and giving you time to enjoy it in person.
How to Enter:
Follow Oceanstays and Stu Murphy on Instagram and Facebook.
Complete the form and tick “Sign up for news and updates” to enter and subscribe to newsletters and marketing emails from both Oceanstays and Stu Murphy.
Tag someone you’d love to bring along on our official Instagram giveaway post to complete your entry. Tag as many people as you like, each additional friend tagged gives you an extra entry.
Entries open: 30 September 2026
Entries close: 18 October 2026
Both times are local NSW time.
Winner announced: 19 October 2026 in Seaside Sojourns and on social media. The winner will also be contacted directly by email.
Terms & conditions
Open to Australian residents aged 18 and over. One form entry per person, plus valid bonus entries. One winner will be drawn at random and checked against the entry requirements. Fake or impersonation accounts, automated entries and multiple accounts used by one person to gain additional entries are excluded.
The prize includes the featured Yamba artwork and a $500 Oceanstays accommodation voucher, together valued at $1,500. The voucher is valid for off-peak stays, subject to availability and Oceanstays booking terms. It is non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for cash. We’ll contact the winner to arrange their prize.
By ticking the signup box, you agree to marketing emails from Oceanstays and Stu Murphy. Oceanstays will collect your name and email address to manage the giveaway and share them with Stu for his newsletters and marketing emails. You can unsubscribe from either mailing list at any time.
A Continuing Story of Art and Place
Every artist brings something of themselves to the places they visit. Their memories, curiosity and way of seeing shape what they create. We value those differences and want to give them room to be expressed.
Through gifted stays, our Artist in Residence Program offers artists time and space to explore their ideas. By sharing their work and the stories behind it, we introduce them to people who might otherwise never have discovered them.
That connection might begin with an artwork in a holiday home, a photograph that makes someone pause or a print they choose to take home. Each is an opportunity to appreciate the work and get to know its creator.
Stu is part of that continuing story. Meet some of the artists we’ve welcomed and discover what their time with Oceanstays inspired.
Oceanstays Art Shop
Finding a piece you connect with is also a way to support the artist behind it.
Explore artwork and prints from our resident artists, and find a piece that reminds you of a place you love.
Could your next chapter begin here?
Your way of seeing deserves to be shared too.
If you’re an artist drawn to the places around our Oceanstays homes, we’d love to learn about your work and what you might create during a residency.
Our Artist in Residence Program offers space to explore, time to develop ideas and opportunities for us to share your work and story with our community.
Tell us about your practice, what inspires you and the places you’d like to explore. We’d love to hear what your next chapter could look like.
Museum quality reproduction of original watercolour artwork by Cass Deller. Available on 320gsm textured cotton rag paper or a unique 'raw' canvas.
ABOUT THE ART
Inspired by the serene beauty of Yamba Beach, this artwork weaves together the raw elements of the ocean—saltwater, sand, inks, and acrylics—forming its textured foundation. The detailed upper layers pay tribute to the iconic man-made landmarks of the Yamba Pool and Surf Club, creating a harmonious blend of the natural coastline with these cherished structures.
MATERIALS
My originals are captured in such incredible detail, that the printed reproduction is almost impossible to differentiate from the actual original. Giclee printed on either textured cotton rag (museum grade paper that mimics real watercolour paper) or a unique 'raw' poly-cotton canvas, which doesn't have a plastic coating on it like other canvas reproductions, giving it a beautiful, soft matte finish with lots of texture.
Canvas prints are stretched, so they arrive ready to hang. You can add a 'floating' frame to create a contemporary finish. The floating frames are 1cm wide on the face, with a 5mm 'shadow line' (gap between the stretched canvas print and the frame), and 4.5cm deep and available in raw oak, smooth black or smooth white.
POSTAGE
Postage in Australia included. International postage POA.