Studio Update: Projects and Upcoming Solo Show

The Artist from a Distance by Megan CoyleI’ve been itching to begin work on another batch of collages – it’s been tough focusing on editing my book, but it will be well-worth it when it’s complete. I’ve especially been wanting to begin work on new artwork since several pieces sold recently – including the above “The Artist from a Distance.” It’s time to start cranking out more artwork!

Aside from book work, I’m beginning to come up with ideas for future works of art. First I’d like to work on another set of animal collages. Perhaps I’ll stop by the National Zoo sometime soon to find some inspiration.

I’d also like to film a collage being pieced together from start to finish. I’ll start this project off by testing it out on a smaller collage. Then hopefully I can figure out how to speed up the footage, and ta-da! I’ll upload it to the web for all to view. I’m very much interested in sharing more of my process with everyone.

And I’m beginning to work on selecting artwork for my exhibit at RedRocks which is part of the Firebricks & Frames exhibition series. I’ve designed and ordered postcards for the exhibit (fingers crossed – hopefully they’ll arrive in the mail soon!) which I’ll post soon. The show will open on July 1st, so it will be here before I know it! Anyway, off I go – there’s lots to do!

Drawing Inspiration from the Figure

Drawing Inspiration from the Figure

This weekend I stopped by the Del Ray Artisans to check out the “Drawing Inspiration from the Figure” group exhibition. My collage “Man at the Market” is currently on display at the show. The exhibit opened on June 3rd and will run until the 26th.

Man at the Market collage by Megan Coyle

Above is an image of my collage on display.

Man at the Market collage by Megan Coyle

And here’s another angle of it.

Things are slowly but surely coming together with my children’s book, Duck & Fish. I’m running a giveaway for the book that ends on June 28th – find out more about it here. At the moment I’m working through a few more revisions. Once I’m finished with a couple more rounds of editing, it should be complete. Aside from my book work, I’ve been busy planning future exhibitions.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend and a Happy Father’s Day!

The Firebricks & Frames Exhibition Series

Firebricks and Frames Exhibition Series
Front view

Firebricks and Frames Exhibition Series
Back view

A couple months ago I heard that I was accepted to be part of a new exhibition series in the area – “The Firebricks & Frames” exhibition series. The series is managed by Gallery Thirteen and RedRocks. From June until December of this year, a different artist will be featured every month. The art exhibitions and receptions will be hosted by RedRocks but planned and organized by Gallery Thirteen. Above is the postcard for the series – my “Blue Rhino” collage is the image I’m using to advertise my solo show.

Tonight we’re having a launch party for the series. I’m going to be the featured artist for July, so I won’t have any work up during the launch party, although I will have an opening reception during the first week of July when my work is installed.

In other news, it will be a little while before I have any blog posts up with new artwork. I haven’t gotten around to making new work since I started revising my children’s book and working on marketing upcoming shows. So much to do, so little time…but soon I’ll have some time to devote to art making. More to come later!

Anyway, I’m off to celebrate with other artists at the launch party!

My First Children’s Book: Duck & Fish – and a Giveaway

Duck and Fish written and illustrated by Megan CoyleSo here it is folks, the cover art for my first children’s book – Duck & Fish. It’s currently undergoing some editing, but I hope to have it completed relatively soon. I was pretty excited about putting this all together. It all began last fall with a couple of sketches and a rough draft of the story, and gradually, whenever I had a spare moment in between commissions and exhibition work, I would work on piecing together the illustrations and refine the storyline.

Megan Coyle with Duck and FishDuck & Fish tells the tale of a mallard duck who meets a flying fish at the beach. The two animals tell one another about the joys of flying in the sky or swimming underwater. Once they go their separate ways, Fish finds himself imagining what it would be like to fly while Duck ponders life underwater. What would happen if they could live such different lives?

To celebrate the release of my self-published book, I’m running a giveaway. You can enter for a chance to win a free copy of my book – the giveaway ends June 28th and the winners will be announced on June 30th. The giveaway is now closed and the winners have been announced.

And of course I couldn’t resist Photoshopping a picture of myself to include the two stars of the book – Duck and Fish.

Drawing Inspiration from the Figure

Man at the Market by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Man at the Market.” Collage on mat board. 16″x20″
Order a print

June 3rd – 26th, 2011
Nicholas Colasanto Center; Alexandria, Virginia
Map and Gallery Info

Opening Reception: Friday, June 3rd
from 7:00 – 10:00p.m.

Megan Coyle’s “Man at the Market” collage was on display at the Del Ray Artisans’ “Drawing Inspiration from the Figure” group exhibition. The collage was made around the same time that Coyle worked on a series of portraits for her Art League solo exhibition.

For years artists have used models to understand proportion, structure, movement and expression of the human figure. These studies have paved the way for intricate and detailed works of art. For the Del Ray Artisans’ June exhibit, artists created works of art that reflected this inspiration that has been drawn from the human form. “Drawing Inspiration from the Figure” featured the work of local artists. It included figure drawings as well as completed works of art in a variety of mediums.