Murray's aim was to raise the profile and reputation of pottery to a level where it would be regarded as equal to  painting and sculpture. He was a member of the Seven and Five group of painters and sculptors, and held exhibitions jointly with the painters Ben and Winifred Nicholson and Christopher Wood.
He rejected any need for functionality in his work, regarding his pots as pure art and giving them individual titles. In this respect, he was at variance with Bernard Leach and his followers, for whom functionality was a key tenet.