In the Studio: Original Art | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

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 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 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.

June 1, 2010June 14, 2024

King of the Jungle

Here’s the completed version of “King of the Jungle.” I’m realizing that as opportunities present themselves, I’m working away trying to make sure I can meet all the deadlines. Looks like I might have a couple more exhibitions to start preparing for. Goodness, apparently I don’t have enough on my plate already.

I’m really enjoying my time as a Visiting Artist and I’ve only just begun. I enjoy interacting with the public and seeing which pieces visitors respond to more. When I’m busy working away in my apartment, I don’t have a live audience and I rely entirely on what I think of a piece. It’s nice getting a feel for what others think.

Every time Ben has walked into my studio, he’s given me more great ideas on what I can do to make it more intriguing for visitors to come inside. I’m in the middle of working on a few adjustments for my set-up. Soon I plan to take a few pictures of the new layout so I can post them for you all to see.

I hope you’re having a great week – time sure does fly when you’re busy and having fun!

May 10, 2010June 5, 2024

Leisure Day

This is the last piece in the figurative series for my upcoming solo show. I’m installing the show on Wednesday morning, so this week will be a busy one of marketing the exhibit and making plans for the reception in a couple of weeks.

I’m also beginning to prepare for my work as a Visiting Artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. I’ll have to plan out how to present myself while I’m working in an open studio there. I’m thinking of using Blurb to create a quick book filled with images of my work so I can have a more professional looking portable portfolio. Hopefully I’ll have enough time to get organized for this…goodness, so many upcoming events coming up all at once.

May 6, 2010June 7, 2024

Afternoon Conversations

They look like they’re having quite a serious afternoon conversation. I just have one more finished collage from this series to post. Before long, I’ll get to go back to working on animal collages.

While looking through my artwork the other day, I noticed that I don’t have that many landscape or still life pieces. Looks like I’ll need to work on building those sections of my portfolio out some more sometime in the future. Yes indeed, there’s always work to be done.

I hope everyone has had a lovely week – it’s almost the weekend!

May 3, 2010June 14, 2024

These Crowded Streets

Another scene inspired by one of my trips to NYC. I’ve enjoyed working on different angles of figures – by doing so, you can come up with some interesting narrative images. This was a piece that I revisited to edit and add more detail to it. Sometimes, when working on a collage, I can have a tough time getting into the piece. Although by setting it aside for a little bit of time, I can return to it later on with renewed energy and fresh eyes.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I somehow managed to hurt my foot the other day so I’m doing my best to rest up so I can move around like normal soon.

May 1, 2010June 14, 2024

Windy City Walks

This piece is pretty thick in some areas from layering lots of magazine cut-outs in order to get the figure looking right. It’s funny how that happens with some of my collages – if I have to focus a lot of energy and time on one area, the collage will feel heavier in that area when I lift the piece up.

In other news, Carly from MommyGarten.com mentioned me on her site in an article, “Art & Work of Creative Parenting: Field Trip Friday.” She discusses using collage as an art project for your child.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I’m taking care of quite a few errands, working on a new collage for my show in July, and of course, having some fun.