Blog | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

April 18, 2011January 29, 2017

Bosty Enjoys the Spring Weather

Bosty noticed some of the neighborhood dogs were being walked, and demanded that I take him for a walk as well. It was a gorgeous day outside, why not go out and enjoy the warm weather?

He loved taking a look at all the spring flowers that were blossoming.

He even found some flowers that he decided to name “Bosty Flowers” because they were purple just like him.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling down the city streets, imagining what the people were like that lived in the colorful townhouses.

April 10, 2011January 29, 2017

It’s Only Rock n’ Roll, But I Like It!

Yesterday I gallery sat at the Del Ray Artisans’ for their “It’s Only Rock n’ Roll, But I Like It!” exhibition. The show features work inspired by musicians, bands, instruments, and anything music-related.

When I arrived at the gallery, I was pleased to see that my “Guitar” collage had sold. A local purchased it during the opening reception about a week ago.

It was dreary outside, but the gallery sure looked great.

And I was especially impressed by a hand-made and functional bass guitar that was on display. Any three-dimensional work I make seems to come out looking flimsy. I’m not accustomed to working that way, and I’m always in awe of those that can do a fine job at making sculptural work.Anyway, I hope everyone has had a lovely week. I had a chance to spend quite a few hours on my children’s book. I’m getting close to finishing it, but still have quite a bit of work ahead of me. I’m definitely looking forward to posting the cover art once it is complete.

April 6, 2011June 16, 2024

Q & A: What Motivates You?

People who know me often comment on my work ethic. How do I manage to work on my artwork just about every day of the week, have a web-related day job, and have time for hobbies and, well, everything else? First and foremost I’d have to say that my love for the arts is what drives me. I also have a strong interest in learning new things and I’m constantly working on different ways of improving my work and myself. This passion for the arts is why I work so hard and why not getting very much sleep every night doesn’t really bother me. I’ve figured why not work really hard and do as much as I can while I’m young. I also have this mentality that I can’t wait for opportunities to magically appear for me – I need to put in the work to make them happen.

Lastly, I must admit that the negativity that I’ve encountered in my life motivates me to prove those negative forces wrong. Rejection comes with the territory with being an artist, as well as hearing negative views from others about the arts. Instead of giving up when I hit a negative wall, I get momentarily irritated before getting over the irritation and moving on to work harder. And at the moment this has worked for me. I manage to turn these negative experiences into something positive for my art career.

April 1, 2011June 16, 2024

It’s Only Rock n’ Roll, But I Like It!

Guitar by collage artist Megan Coyle — “Guitar.”
Collage on mat board. 7″x5″
Order a print

April 1st – May 1st, 2011
Nicholas Colasanto Center; Alexandria, Virginia
Map and Gallery Info

Opening Reception: Friday, April 1st from 7:00 – 10:00p.m.

Megan’s still life collage, “Guitar” was on display in the Del Ray Artisans’ “It’s Only Rock n’ Roll, But I Like It!” group exhibition. The show was held at the Nicholas Colasanto Center, and featured the work of local artists.

The exhibit focused on the theme of “Rock n’ Roll,” with artwork that depicted bands, musicians, instruments, songs, and other music related imagery. The exhibit was inspired by and paid homage to all things rock n’ roll. Those who had a chance to stop by the exhibit saw numerous works of art, each crafted in a different style with a different interpretation of the topic of rock n’ roll.

March 24, 2011June 16, 2024

Mountain Land

Another day, another collage. Decided to crank out another abstract landscape piece before I dive back into my children’s book illustrations. I had to put the book project on hold for a while as I worked on the new education section of my website. So now I’m back at it – I have about four more to do, but then of course comes the editing and revisions I’ll need to do to the previous pieces. I’m getting pretty excited about it and hope to have everything completed within the next couple of months.

March 23, 2011February 5, 2017

“Painting with Paper” Collages from NYC

A couple months ago I received an email from Eric, an artist and art educator in NYC. He had a few questions about my collage technique and told me that he was doing a collage unit around my work and the idea of “painting with paper.”

Yesterday he sent me the activity guide he used as well as several pictures of student collages. It made my day seeing some “painting with paper” work that was done in the classroom. Take a look at some of the student work, it’s very impressive:

The students used Chuck Close’s technique of using a grid to make large drawings. Then they collaged on top of their drawings.

March 21, 2011February 19, 2017

New Education Section of Website

I’ve added a new tab to my website “Learn” – an education section. Over the past couple of years I’ve heard from various teachers who have used my artwork in their classrooms. These messages inspired me to put together an entirely new section devoted to students and teachers. At the moment it includes lesson plans and activities for kids such as worksheets for connect the dots, puzzles, matching games, and more.

In the future I hope to add a video section that includes “how to” videos for collaging and showing my process.

March 20, 2011January 29, 2017

Beyond Form: Expressing Art Exhibition

Yesterday I did some gallery sitting at the Del Ray Artisans’ “Beyond Form: Expressing Art” group exhibition. Two of my latest abstract collages were in it – a non-objective piece and an abstract landscape one.

The exhibit showcases a variety of abstract artwork done in all different mediums by local artists. The show opened on March 4th and will run until the 27th.

Above is an image of a section of the gallery space. Yesterday was such a beautiful day – the lighting from outside was shining in through the windows, making the place look all the more beautiful.

And now I’m off to finish up some work for a new section of my website. I’ll add a blog post when everything is up and running.

March 15, 2011June 16, 2024

Golden Plains

I decided to put together another abstract landscape collage today. It’s really nice to change up my technique to make these – they’re pretty fun to do. Usually I focus a lot of time on little details, and it’s nice to cut loose and just focus on color and texture while tearing paper instead of cutting it.

I’m still working away as usual. March has been a quiet month for my blog – I hope to post more next month. I’m striving to finish a couple large projects relatively soon, so once they’re completed that should free up my schedule a bit. Anyway, I’m off to work on some more illustrations.

March 9, 2011June 16, 2024

Guitar

This is a simple collage that I put together for an upcoming group exhibition. I’ve been missing in action a little bit these days when it comes to blogging – been a little tied up with a couple of large projects that I’m anxious about completing.

And next month will be another busy month – I’m making a trek to Jasper, Indiana at the end of April for my solo show and day-long workshop. So far it looks like about forty of my pieces will be on display for the exhibit. Yep, I’ve got quite a bit of planning ahead of me but I’m pretty excited about getting everything ready.