"A Palette of Paper" Preview

A Palette of Paper The Collages of Megan Coyle

My solo show, “A Palette of Paper,” went up yesterday. I didn’t have an opening reception for this one, but I’m going to have an artist talk a week from this Saturday. It’s been a while since my last talk – we shall see how this one goes!

The gallery director was kind enough to send a few pictures of the installed exhibit (I have yet to see it in person!). The space is gorgeous – I love the wood floors and the lighting, and it’s wonderful how the artist’s name gets printed across the gallery’s glass door.

A Palette of Paper The Collages of Megan Coyle

The folks at the gallery installed the show for me, which makes things a lot easier on my end. Sometimes it can take hours and hours for me to install a show. You’d think at this point I’d be a pro at it – but alas, no. Every show seems to have a different way of displaying my work – nail in the wall, hooks that attach to the molding at the top of the walls, etc.

A Palette of Paper The Collages of Megan Coyle
A Palette of Paper The Collages of Megan Coyle

Anyway, I like what they did with the place. And I’m looking forward to seeing everything when I stop by for my artist talk.

A Palette of Paper – Collages by Megan Coyle

Orange Monkey by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Orange Monkey.” Collage on paper. 9″x12″
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February 8th – March 22nd, 2012
Center for the Arts, Caton Merchant Family Gallery; Manassas, Virginia
Map and Gallery Info

Artist talk: Saturday, February 18th at 1:00p.m.

This solo exhibition of Coyle’s artwork featured her portrait, animal, landscape, and cityscape collages. “A Palette of Paper – Collages by Megan Coyle” focused on Coyle’s unique technique of creating collages that strongly resemble paintings, while using magazine strips or cut paper for her color palette.

The show included several new collages as well as older works. A total of around thirty collages were on display, showcasing Coyle’s interpretation of a variety of familiar subjects.

The Gallery’s Description of the Show:

If you can imagine how scissors plying through everyday magazines can give an outcome of surprising and masterful art, then you might imagine the incredible collages of Megan Coyle. Working in classic art genres, Megan breaks down her images piece by piece, evolving them from bits of magazines into whole new, amazing compositions.

A Palette of Paper (Solo Show)

A Palette of Paper - the collages of Megan Coyle
Front view
A Palette of Paper - the collages of Megan Coyle
Back view

So my upcoming solo show is just around the corner! “A Palette of Paper” will be on display at the Center for the Arts, Caton Merchant Family Gallery in Manassas, VA. The art gallery is beautiful – and the art center is in a building that used to be an old candy factory. I can’t wait to take pictures of the installed exhibit and share them. There will be around thirty collages that will include portraits, animals, cityscapes, and landscapes.

I’m delivering the work to the gallery in the next couple of days. The show will go up on February 8th and will run until March 22nd. I’m giving an artist talk on February 18th.

Here’s the gallery’s description of the show:

If you can imagine how scissors plying through everyday magazines can give an outcome of surprising and masterful art, then you might imagine the incredible collages of Megan Coyle. Working in classic art genres, Megan breaks down her images piece by piece, evolving them from bits of magazines into whole new, amazing compositions.

Tree Baby (Firefox)

Tree Baby (Firefox) by collage artist Megan Coyle
Tree Baby (Firefox) by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Tree Baby (Firefox).” Collage on paper. 16″x12″
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And here’s the finished red panda cub. These little critters are so cute in person!

I’m currently working on several large animal collages – around 18″x24″ – that will be used in an upcoming exhibition. I’m also doing a bit of preliminary work for a 2d animation that I hope to put together at some point. Busy, busy!

What Are You Looking At? (Orangutan)

What Are You Looking At - orangutan - by collage artist Megan Coyle
“What Are You Looking At?” (Orangutan).
Collage on paper. 16″x12″
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Here’s the finished orangutan. I’m currently working on several animal collages since I’ll have two overlapping solo shows this summer. The shows will only feature my animal collage work, thus I’ll need quite a bit of work available to display. So I’m off – gotta keep busy!

Fluffy the Chinchilla Portraits

Fluffy the Chinchilla - Profile by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Fluffy the Chinchilla – Profile.”
Collage on paper. 7″x5″
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Above and below are the finished portraits I did of Fluffy the Chinchilla. They were my first ever chinchilla portraits, and I had a lot of fun making them. The client had some great Fluffy photos that I used as references for these.

And now I’m off to work on a red panda collage. Hope everyone has a great week!

Fluffy the Chinchilla - Front by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Fluffy the Chinchilla – Front.”
Collage on paper. 7″x5″
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