Megan Coyle | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

July 6, 2010June 15, 2024

Gorilla

Here’s the finished piece – and now the next several collages I post won’t include any progress pictures (like I mentioned before). Perhaps I should start taking my camera with me to the studio…

Things have been going pretty well lately. Getting ready to install my solo show “Stories in Paper” tomorrow and then I’ll work on prepping for my artist talk, etc. on Thursday. Then the following week I’m doing a demonstration/talk for a collage group and giving a lecture on blogging. So lots to do – all very exciting, yet it will still be nice once everything is done.

Work in the studio has been interesting. I really enjoy a lot of the visitors that pop in and have met quite a few lovely people. From emerging artists to art enthusiasts, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the conversation I’ve had with others. However, you still get an oddball in the studio every once in a while – I suppose that’s the charm of having the art center studios open to the public.

The other day, I was working away on my latest scapes collage for an upcoming show at NIH. An older woman came in and gradually made her way over to where I was working. She hovered for a while, watching me work. Then she piped in, “You must have done real good in kindergarten.”

I glanced up at her, kind of shocked and mumbled something like, “Yeah, sure.” After the English major within me cringed from her grammar, I was a little surprised by her comment. I do look pretty young but sorry lady, my kindergarten days are long, long gone. I initially felt insulted by this. Once I got over that initial response, I thought her comment was pretty hilarious. I suppose some people consider cutting and pasting paper to be pretty elementary. All I can do is smile and laugh about that. There’s so much more to collage than just that.

July 1, 2010June 14, 2024

Toucan Samantha

There’s already a Toucan Sam, so why not introduce people to his female counterpart, Toucan Samantha? I had fun working on this one – especially with the fragments of images I used for the background.

Anyway, where have I been? It’s been a while since my last post! Well, the past few days I’ve been spending a lot of time moving out of my apartment. I’m going to move to a new place fairly soon, and the move has really consumed the majority of my free time. I’ve still put in a few hours here and there in the studio, and I have a few pieces I’ve completed there that I need to take home to photograph.

I’m also beginning to prep for the opening reception of my solo show “Stories in Paper,” which opens next week, July 8th. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

June 25, 2010January 29, 2017

Stories in Paper Exhibition

Stories in Paper by collage artist Megan Coyle

If you click on one of the images above, you can view a larger image of the front and back of the postcard for my upcoming solo exhibition. Before you know it, July 8th will be here. I’ve got quite a bit of exhibition prep work to do, but I’m excited that the artwork is completed, framed, and ready for the opening reception.

Below is the press release that the Art League Gallery sent out about my exhibit:

At a glance, Megan Coyle’s images deceptively appear to be slightly abstracted paintings. But upon closer inspection, the viewer can see the surface of the “painting” dissolves into bits of paper. Her images are not paintings, but collages carefully crafted from small pieces of magazine photos. Stories in Paper, Coyle’s solo exhibit at The Art League Gallery, explores images and scenes of day-to-day life using an unconventional medium and method to create sophisticated images.

Coyle reconstructs the picture surface by breaking down the human form into different planes – the body, face, and the folds in the clothing. She builds up the surface and texture by layering different shapes of paper, or peels away pieces to let previous layers shine through. “Utilizing this method allows me to create artwork that captures the essence of a painting, but broadens my palette to include textures, pattern, and fragments of photographs from magazines.”

“My process is pretty straight forward. First I sketch out the composition while using multiple photographs as references. I pour through piles of magazines and tear out pages that have the colors and patterns that I have in mind. I cut out shapes of color and affix them where I want them. I block in the color bit by bit, eventually layering shapes, and finally creating a finished piece. Lastly, I paint a matte varnish on top of the collage as a UV protectant.”

Coyle graduated in 2008 from Elon University in North Carolina with a BA in painting and creative writing. Her work has been exhibited throughout the region in venues including the Smithsonian Ripley Center, Fisher Gallery, Nicholas Colasanto Center, and The Art League Gallery. She was recently accepted into the Visiting Artist program at the Torpedo Factory Art Center for the summer of 2010.

In The Art League Gallery:

Stories in Paper: July 8 – August 2, 2010
Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Thursday, July 8, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Artist Talk: Blogging for Artists with Megan Coyle: Thursday, July 15, 7:00 – 8:00 pm

June 22, 2010June 5, 2024

Flamingo Dancers

I was going to stick with the title “Flamingos” but then I thought I should start changing these titles up a bit. Flamingos always remind me of ballerinas for some reason. I think it’s their pink feathers and how they perch on one leg like the flamingo in the center.

Anyway, things are still pretty busy. I just finished putting together a bunch of handmade magnets to sell at the studio (they’ve been pretty popular – especially with tourists). And I’m continuing to work on a series of animal collages. I recently took pictures of several finished collages, which I’ll later post. In July I’m planning on working on landscape pieces for another upcoming exhibition. And hopefully, sometime soon, I can begin work on a short animation. I have so many ideas at the moment, and there are so many possibilities of projects I can work on – sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge the fact I’m not wonder woman and can’t do everything all at once.

June 16, 2010January 29, 2017

Bosty goes to Paris

If you’re wondering what Bosty has been up to, he’s been busy traveling around Paris. He went ahead and bought himself a beret so he could pose in front of the Eiffel Tower like all the other American tourists.

Then he made his way over to the Musee D’Orsay – an art museum that used to be a railway station. Bosty liked chasing after some of the art museum visitors – it was his version of “performance art.”

Since you’re in the mood for museums, why not head over to the Louvre? Don’t mind if I do!

The day was pretty cloudy but still beautiful. Bosty had a lot of fun wandering the pretty Paris streets.

Posing in front of Notre Dame

And Sacre Coeur – which looked just like a large palace that Bosty wouldn’t mind living in.

He ended the day stopping by the Moulin Rouge – but only for a photo op. He wasn’t too interested in anything other than the movie reference.

Another day he decided to climb up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower for the view.

And finally, he made it to the top to take a look at the city below. “I think I could sit here all day.”

And he did – before climbing back down to watch the Eiffel Tower light up from afar. Good night, Paris!

June 14, 2010June 14, 2024

Goat

This weekend was a lot of fun at the studio. I’ve gotten quite a bit of work done thus far – and I have yet to take those finished collages home to photograph and post. My goal is to complete about a dozen animal collages before moving on to creating about eight landscape pieces for my NIH solo show in September.

Tomorrow I’m uninstalling the Fisher Gallery exhibition. It had a good run – and I can’t believe it’s already over! A lot of planning and work went into that show, and I’m proud that I was able to pull it off. Next up: my solo show at the Art League Gallery. I still have quite a bit of planning to do for that exhibition although it won’t be as intensive as the Fisher show.

Anyway, I hope everyone’s week has gotten off to a good start!

June 13, 2010June 14, 2024

Polar Bear

I’ve been working away on several more animal collages at the studio. I’ll bring them back home one of these days so I can take pictures and post them.

Yesterday was my first Saturday working at the studio. It was pretty exciting how busy the art center was and I received a lot of business from the visitors. During the week, things are much slower in comparison with the weekend. I’m also in the process of ordering more magnets – I’ll have to work away with making a lot more of them for the upcoming week.

In other news, last night Scene Gallery had an opening for the “Local Scene” exhibit. It was a pleasant gathering and the art looked great in the space.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I think I’ll go ahead and take care of a few errands before heading off to the studio.

June 10, 2010January 29, 2017

Studio Update

Since posting my last pictures of the studio where I’m currently working for June and July, I’ve moved a few things around to help with presentation. Before, the pedestals were pushed up against the wall. When I did this, I had trouble getting visitors to notice my work. By pulling out the pedestals, and forcing visitors to walk around them, my work became much more noticeable. I also had the problem of visitors thinking my work was painting, thus not really paying close attention to it. In the image above you can see that I cut out paper letters and taped them to the wall – the set on the side includes my logo as well as the words “Collage Artist.”

I also cut out letters to make up “painting with paper.”

Here’s a view that shows a little of the other side of the studio. I’m competing for attention with these sculpture pieces.

Here are my marketing materials – postcards, business cards, and brochures – you can see them right when you walk in the door. That book I have propped up on a mini easel is the book I put together with Blurb. I think Blurb is pretty useful – I was really satisfied with the quality.

And now I have note cards for sale along with my handmade magnets.

Well anyway, I’m off to take care of a few errands before heading off to the studio for just about the entire day.

June 9, 2010June 14, 2024

Dinner for Two

And it’s done! I thought about adding more to the background, but when it came down to it, I decided that a simpler background could draw more attention to the couple.

In other news, I’m feeling a great deal better. Slept for a good chunk of time yesterday, and I suppose my body has a tendency of feeling weary and sick as a way to tell me to slow down and take better care of myself.

These next few days are going to be busy ones. I’m pleased to say that all my figurative pieces are complete for my exhibitions scheduled for this year. Next on my list is to finish about ten or more animal collages for a show in August and about eight landscape/cityscape pieces for a show in September. To add to the workload, I also need to get started on planning out my next artist talk for my solo show in July as well as a lecture on blogging for artists that I’ll be giving in mid July.

June 7, 2010December 6, 2017

Character Study

This is a collaboration I worked on with my brother. I did the concept drawing, he took the sketch and modeled/uv unwrapped it, I collaged the uv flats, and he put it together for the final look. I think the next step is that we’ll start working on a background for this little guy.

Birdy by collage artist Megan Coyle

Here’s the concept sketch I did

Birdy model by Brendan Coyle

And my brother’s interpretation of the sketch with a 3d model. Next I collaged the uv flats which he took and was able to use to put together the clip that you saw at the top.

Once I get a spare moment, I’d like to work on my own 2d animation piece. Also, that children’s book has been in my backlog of things “to do” for quite a while now. Hopefully I can get started on that as well in the near future.