“Ragamuffin.” Collage on mat board. 5″x7″ Order a print
Another addition to my cat series. This one looks a little silly – but I had fun putting the piece together nevertheless. I really enjoy making animal collages – there are so many animals that look like such characters.
My weekend has gone by quickly and it’s been quite a productive one. I’m just about finished with a commissioned portrait and I also had a chance to deliver a piece that sold the other day. And now I’m about to head off to work on making several new magnets to add to my Etsy shop. Hope everyone else is having a marvelous weekend!
Today “Collage Scapes” opens at the East Alcove Gallery at NIH. The show will run from September 10th until November 5th, 2010. It features eight of my landscape and cityscape pieces. Of those eight, seven were completed within the past couple of months – so the majority of the work is fairly new.
I decided I wanted to create new scapes for this exhibit since I have a tendency of focusing a lot on animal and portraiture collages. I wanted to change things up a bit and add a little more range to my portfolio. Landscapes and still life work is something that I don’t often do, and I’m trying to incorporate more of these subjects into my work.
With “Collage Scapes,” my goal is to capture the color in everyday settings. More specifically, I wanted to capture scenes that are familiar to me and present them in a different light.
“Old Town Townhouses.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
September 10th – November 5th, 2010 The East Alcove Gallery, NIH; Bethesda, Maryland Map and Gallery Info
Eight of Megan Coyle’s latest collage scapes were on display in one of the National Institute of Health’s clinical galleries – The East Alcove Gallery.
Landscapes and cityscapes are one of the subjects that Megan hasn’t explored too often, and she wanted “Collage Scapes” to serve as a body of work where she’d explore the world around us in nature and urban life.
Her new landscape and cityscape collages featured scenes around the Washington, DC area, as well as New York City and abroad. With subjects ranging from local memorials to townhouses, Megan focused on the color that surrounds us in everyday environments.
“Old Town Townhouses.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
When I was working as a visiting artist this past summer, I did quite a bit of walking. It was about an hour walk to the local art center from my house – and I tried to make this trek twice a day (to the center and then back home) so I could get some exercise. So often I get cooped up inside making artwork or sitting in front of a computer. I felt it was necessary to force myself to get out and move about a little more.
On my walks, I’d take pictures from time to time to file away and use for future works of art. This collage was based on a series of photographs I took of the bright, colorful townhouses you can find on King Street in Old Town, Alexandria.
I don’t typically do landscape and cityscapes (you’ve probably realized I’m more of a sucker for animal and portraiture pieces), however this was a collage I made for an upcoming show I’m having at NIH – it features landscape and cityscape collages. I’ll post more pieces from the series later on.
“Brown Bear.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
I used a lot of texture for this one – I’m realizing that some days I’m in the mood to work with a lot of texture/fragments of images, while other times I like to focus on plain colors. This piece was inspired by a trip to the Natural History museum – I took a picture of one of their bears on display in an animal exhibit to use as a guide for the general outline of this bear. The background and shadowing were sort of made up as I went along.
I hope everyone is enjoying the first few days of September. I’ve been working away as usual, and I’m excited about a couple of commission pieces I have in my schedule. I’ve been working on a lot of animal and landscape collages, however both of my commissions are portraits. I sort of put portraiture aside after having two solo exhibits back to back this summer that showcased different work for each show. I was a little burnt out on using figures for my subjects, however now I’m rested up and ready to dive back in.
At the moment, my children’s book and animation work is put on hold until I finish up my work with clients.
“Purple Meerkat.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
This guy is my favorite piece from the body of work I completed this summer when I worked as a visiting artist at a local art center. I not only had a lot of fun putting together the meerkat, but I enjoyed playing with the textures in the background as well. And yes, this is another piece inspired by a trip to the DC zoo. I have to admit, those meerkats at the zoo are possibly my favorite animals there – they are just too cute!
At the moment I’m working away on a commissioned portrait, putting together a proposal for a couple of projects for a craft book, and continuing to write my first children’s book. Also, I’d like to thank Ann for featuring my work in her blog All Things Paper, and Beth for featuring me in her Featured Artist Tuesday post.
Anyway, I hope everyone had a great month of August!
After a trip to Brighton, Bosty decided to head over to Cambridge to take a look at the sights over there. He saw some tourists going on boat rides as we walked over to check out Cambridge University. Bosty was more in the mood for boat rides or watching boat riders than wandering the streets.
Once we made it to Cambridge University’s campus, Bosty wanted his picture taken. Another tourist shot? Don’t mind if I do!
And then he walked down the streets to do a little window-shopping.
And ended the day by running around the evening market. He grabbed a few bites of the pastries that were for sale as a snack. And he was quite content greeting all the strangers gathering at the market until it grew late – and was time to go get some shut eye.
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!
“Tabby Cat.” Collage on mat board. 5″x7″ Order a print
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.
“A Piece of the Ocean.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
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.
