Blue has always been one of my favorite colors. I’ve found that whenever I make a collage portrait and I’m not sure what color shirt to give the sitter, I default to the color blue. Thus when I heard about the “Blue: An Interpretation” exhibit I was excited to submit a couple of the blue collages I’ve completed over the years.
The “Blue” exhibit came down on Sunday. Several days ago I did some gallery-sitting and above are some photographs from my visit.
And here’s the finished piece. You’ll notice that it looks much different than the last progress picture. My client supplied me with a low res photograph taken with a cell phone camera. After a bit of dialogue back and forth between us, the portrait began to change bit by bit as I merged elements from other photographs that the client sent. Eventually, this was the result.
Anyway, I’m off to continue working on another commission – when it rains, it does indeed pour. And sometimes I wish I could clone myself so I could work on all the projects that are on my “to do” list.
Today I found out about a German site called “Create or Die” (sounds like a design/art spin off of Will Ferrell’s “Funny or Die”) that’s featuring me as “Künstler der Woche,” or “The Artist of the Week.” Above you’ll see there’s a black box that appears when you scroll over the image of my artwork that they posted. Here’s a rough translation of what it says: “First the American-born Megan Coyle was primarily devoted to painting, but eventually she moved on to make collages. A good decision, for the artist’s work is so colorful that it could almost have been wielded by the brush of an impressionist.”
My work also showed up this week on the Artsy Shark – a site devoted to emerging artists.
It’s always great fun to see your artwork showing up in different places. Anyway, I’m off to continue my work on more commission work – hope everyone is having a great week thus far!
My “Collage Scapes” exhibit at NIH closed on Friday afternoon. I swung by to pick up my work on Saturday morning, and now the pieces are safely in storage. Here are some images of the artwork when it was on display there.
I made this series specifically for this show – my goal was to focus on a subject matter that I don’t really focus a lot of energy on these days – landscapes and cityscapes. I was pleased with the finished product and hope to explore more scapes scenes in the future.
November 5th – 21st, 2010
Nicholas Colasanto Center; Alexandria, Virginia
Map and Gallery Info
“Blue: An Interpretation” was an all member show held by the Del Ray Artisans at the Nicholas Colasanto Center. The show featured the work of several local artists working in a variety of media while exploring different depictions of blue.
If you’ve taken a look at Megan’s work, you’ve probably noticed that she uses a lot of blue. Blue is a color that has frequently appeared in her work over the years. When she heard that the Del Ray Artisans were having a “Blue” exhibition, she was excited to share a couple of her collages that relate to the theme of the show.
Megan’s “A Piece of the Ocean” and “Blue Beaver” were on display for the duration of the exhibit. Both pieces were recently exhibited in “The Animal Kingdom” solo exhibit.
This is the last piece I’m posting from the NIH “Collage Scapes” exhibition. It was inspired by another stroll around DC in the fall. I’m realizing that I’ve only ever done collages of three distinct buildings in DC. I hope to do some more sometime in the future. However, for now, it’s time to keep focused and finish a few large projects on my plate. If you’re trying to do too many things all at once, it’s difficult to get anything done.
Anyway, I’m excited that Halloween is coming up. I’m not one who likes dressing up in costumes, however I still think it’s a fun time of the year. Lots of fun food and sweets. And hopefully no new cavities. I’m also looking forward to going to the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert rally this weekend. Yes, there’s going to be a lot to do in the next couple of days. I might even sneak in a few more hours of art-making.
I hope everyone had a great week!
Bosty ended his England vacation with a trip to London. First up? A ride on the London Eye.
Then off to the British Museum – Bosty wanted to pose for the camera in front of the museum. After all, Hitchcock did film a scene there. The building’s practically a celebrity to Bosty.
And he just had to stop by Buckingham palace to say hello to the queen. He felt quite at home at the palace – the longer he toured the halls, the more he felt like royalty.
While wandering the streets, Bosty would run up to red telephone booths and press his nose against the glass. He’d look inside to see if anyone was making a phone call.
Piccadilly by night reminded him of NYC. Bright lights and lots of people kept him busy – he liked running up to greet every stranger that walked by.
Some evenings Bosty would perch by the Thames to watch the London skyline as the sun set.
While during the day he’d chase after double-decker buses and cars driving on the left side of the road.
Before leaving the city, Bosty had to say good-bye to Big Ben. Then he walked off, thinking about where he’d head next. Perhaps New York City? London did remind him of that big city back in the States.
Had another go at a cat collage. This one sort of fell together, which is always a good sign. I enjoyed putting together this little guy and adding the fragments of images of buildings in the background.
Recently I started watching quite a few animation video tutorials. I’m itching to get started on an animated collage. However, you can’t always do everything at once, so I’ll have to be patient and wait until I have some more free time to devote to a new project. For now, I’m off to work on a commission and a couple of illustrations.
Like “Old Town Townhouses,” this particular collage was inspired by a walk around Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s also another piece that’s currently on display in my NIH exhibit. I really like using reds in my cityscape pieces – with colorful brick buildings and brick sidewalks.
I’m still working away on my children’s book illustrations. I’m almost a third of the way done – I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s all complete. I’m also about to get started on another commission portrait. Things have been busy but good.
This piece was inspired by a walk around a DC park in the fall. It was part of my recent scapes series, however I didn’t put it in my current NIH show. A lot of my landscape/cityscape collages are pretty abstract – I like focusing on using a lot of textures and bright colors. This piece is also reminding me that I need to get started on creating a background for the collaborative animation project I worked on with my brother.