Megan Coyle | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

August 23, 2010June 15, 2024

Crane

This piece is currently hanging in the Goodwin exhibit. I enjoyed working on the background and creating a blend of abstract shapes and color as well as more defined objects like the shrubs. This crane turned out to be quite the character – he seems to be almost smiling.

Anyway, at the moment I’m working on drafting my children’s book. Once the storyline is cleaned up and where I want it, I’ll work on some sketches for the illustrations. It’s quite an exciting process – I can’t wait to get started on making some collage illustrations!

August 20, 2010June 15, 2024

Tabby Cat

Yet another collage completed during my visiting artist work and it’s the second piece in a cat series. While working in an open studio, and being away from the computer, I was able to get quite a bit of work done. However I was working about seven days a week for a couple of months, and I think at the moment my body is telling me to cool it. So I’ve been doing quite a bit of relaxing these past couple of weeks. Yes there’s also been a lot of work involved, but I haven’t been as intense about it as I have been in the past. I’ve decided I need to take it easy before diving back in.

At the moment, aside from “taking it easy,” I’ve also been dabbling in some brainstorming, story boarding, and working on art-related work in the digital sense. I think in a couple more weeks I’ll make myself sit down every week and complete at least one mini collage. While working with art that involves the computer, I don’t want my studio art skills to grow rusty – so I’ll have to keep at it on the side.

I’ve also been feeling very thankful for having so many supportive people in my life. When it comes to being an artist, there are always people who try to drag you down and discourage you from your dreams. But at the same time, the smaller group of people who are rooting for you from the beginning are the ones who are much more memorable and important than any negative talkers. I’m happy to have those positive supporters in my life.

Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend! I’ll be spending mine taking pictures for future Bosty adventures.

August 14, 2010June 6, 2024

A Piece of the Ocean

Here’s another collage that I made for my animal series on display in The Animal Kingdom exhibit. I haven’t really explored underwater creatures with my work, perhaps I should? The Baltimore Aquarium isn’t that far away, and I’m sure I could find plenty of inspiration there…

I’m about to get started with some more brainstorming and storyboarding for today. I’m excited to work on some new projects. I’m thinking of dabbling in video sometime soon as well. We shall see – there are only so many hours in the day.

August 13, 2010June 15, 2024

Turkish Angora

After doing a series of dog collages a few months ago, several people started requesting that I do a few cat collages. While I was a visiting artist at the local art center for June and July, I was able to complete a few cat collages. Here’s one of the first ones of the series.

I hope everyone had an excellent week! I’ve been working on some grant writing lately – it’s not my favorite thing to do, but the more I force myself to do it, I sure hope the better I’ll get at it. I also hope to work on writing, editing, and revising a few artist statements for the different portfolios I send out to galleries. And once all the paperwork is through, I hope to get started on brainstorming a children’s book.

Anyway, have a great weekend!

August 11, 2010June 6, 2024

Yellow Bird

Another day, another collage. And it’s another one inspired by a trip to the zoo. I love the bright colors you can find in nature and other creatures.

So the craziness of all the exhibitions I’ve had going on this summer has calmed down a bit. The past couple of months I was practically working away on art or art-related things about seven days a week. Now that I have my summer lectures, presentations, and the majority of my shows under my belt, I’ve been a little lazy these past couple of days. I suppose you can say I’m resting up from all the work I was doing.

Pretty soon I may take a bit of a break from working on original works of art. I want to get started on storyboarding a children’s book or perhaps planning out an animation. I’ll still work on a few small pieces here and there, although there won’t be as much work posted here.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a lovely week!

August 7, 2010January 29, 2017

Bosty goes to Brighton

Bosty has been off on another adventure with a trip to England. His first stop? Brighton to run down the beaches. He also spent a good amount of time jumping into the water and doing the doggy paddle to cool off from the summer heat. Here he is taking a stroll down the beach in the early morning.

He dropped by Brighton Pier several times to run around on the boardwalk and greet strangers. Especially the ones walking dogs.

Out and about on the beach chasing after seagulls and other critters. This seagull seems to be having a staring contest with Bosty.

Attacking his head or whispering sweet nothings? Whichever it is, Bosty seems a little concerned.

And after a day of running, splashing in the water, and playing with seagulls, Bosty watched the sunset. All in all, it was just another dog day in summer.

August 5, 2010January 29, 2017

Artist Talk at Goodwin House

Megan Coyle collage artist Tonight I stopped by the Goodwin House to give an artist talk to the residents for my exhibit, “The Animal Kingdom.” I did another PowerPoint presentation where I walked the audience through my process step-by-step and also shared images of the other subjects I collage. Afterward I held a Q & A session that lasted for quite a while – I received lots of questions about the specifics of my technique – the type of paper I use, the type of glue I work with, how I work with the layers, and so on and so forth.

I had a pleasant evening at the reception and made sure to take some photographs of the artwork on the walls. I always try to take pictures of my artwork once it’s installed in an exhibition just for the sake of documenting my work.

Anyway, here are a few more images from the show:

“Hungry Hippo” is the largest piece in the show (24″x18″) and is one of my personal favorites. I probably like this piece because it was inspired by a trip to the zoo where the hippo stuck his tongue out when he saw a zookeeper walk by with a bucket of veggies.

There are nearly forty pieces in this exhibit. Here you can see from the angle view that there are a range of sizes. Since the pieces are smaller than the size I work in for portraiture, it was a bit easier making a larger body of work.

Another angle view – here you can see the collage I used for the postcards.

And lastly, I put together a little spot where I have my artist statement, a stack of artist bio pamphlets, the postcards I designed, my business card, and lastly, the guestbook. I also had some brochures on commission work but they were all gone when I stopped by today.

I hope everyone is having a great week! I’ve been having quite a bit of fun these past few weeks, although I’m excited that now I can rest a little more on the weekends and take it easy. In June and July I was working about seven days a week because of the visiting artist program I was a part of, and now it’s nice not having to be in an office/studio every day of the week. Anyway, that’s all for now.

August 2, 2010January 29, 2017

Stories in Paper: Exhibit Ending

This late afternoon “Stories in Paper” will be uninstalled. I had a lot of fun having this exhibition up at the Art League Gallery – and I can’t believe the show has run its course already.

So while saying “good-bye” to the end of another show, I thought I’d post a few pictures I took of the work hanging on the gallery walls. Here’s the easel sitting outside the Art League with the poster advertising my exhibit.

The postcard collage up on the wall.

The space where I set out a guest book, booklet of more of my work, and other marketing materials.

A shot of one of the gallery’s walls (the one with my name and exhibit title on it).

Another angle.

I was really proud of the work that I had in this show – the majority of it was completed last year. I created about twenty of collages for the show, picked sixteen from the group to have in the gallery, and during installation only fourteen pieces could fit.

Farewell to “Stories in Paper” – although with each exhibit, I seem to learn more and more about marketing my work and playing around with subject matter.

August 1, 2010June 11, 2024

The Animal Kingdom: A Series of Animal Collages

Elephant by collage artist Megan Coyle — “Elephant.” Collage on paper. 9″x12″
Order a print

August 1st – September 25th, 2010
Goodwin Gallery; Alexandria, Virginia
Map and Gallery Info

Reception & Artist Talk: Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 7:00p.m.

“The Animal Kingdom” featured animal collages ranging from domestic animals like cats and dogs, to more exotic animals like giraffes and elephants. Megan’s exhibit examined the diverse world of colorful and familiar creatures. Most of the artwork on display was inspired by the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

The exhibition included older works that appear in the online animal gallery as well as newer works that Megan prepared specifically for this exhibition. All artwork in the exhibition was available for sale.

July 31, 2010January 29, 2017

Studio Move-out

Tomorrow I’m moving out of the Torpedo Factory studio that I’ve been working in for the past couple of months. It’s been quite an experience – and it’s amazing how much the look of the studio has changed over time. You can take a look at my pictures from when I first moved in to get an idea of what changes I made over time.

I’ll get to work for a couple of hours before I start packing things up. I’ve already made some space in my apartment to serve as my home “studio.” And although I have a nook set aside for myself, I think that in the next couple of months I’ll want to focus more on making animations. We shall see…

Above is a shot of my wall and pedestals complete with lettering that I taped to the wall. I noticed that a lot of visitors previously thought all my pieces were paintings and would just walk on by. The lettering really helped me out – it would catch their eye, drawn them in, and make them realize that it was made of paper.

A few weeks ago I moved in a small desk that you can see towards the back there – I turned it into my work desk so visitors would have a better view of me collaging when they walked in.

Some of the magnet packs I made – I sold quite a few of these at the studio. They were pretty popular – and seemed to work well with all the tourists that come in and out of the art center.

And here’s an image of my guest book, magnets, note cards, and digital picture frame that showed a slide show of my other work that wasn’t hanging in the gallery.Anyway, although I’m moving out and one more thing will be behind me, I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up these next couple of months.