Congratulations to Megan Moore – Cover Artist of the 2014 Artist Directory & Guide

This year, NEMAA once again distributed a call-for-art to our Artist Members to submit artwork for the cover of the 2014 Artist Directory & Guide. We received many impressive applications, covering a wide range of artwork. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately the artwork selected was Leaves and Fish by artist Megan Moore. The bright palette and Spring-like subject matter will be a breath of fresh air for the publication which will be distributed beginning in April, just in time for Art-A-Whirl in May - considered as somewhat of an arts rite of passage into Spring.

Megan Moore grew up in Huntsville, AL. She studied Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She moved to Minneapolis in 2002, and began showing her art locally. She is a member of Studiopolis, a nine-artist studio in the Northrup King Building. She shows her work in regional galleries and shops and at many art fairs. She does freelance illustration and graphic design work in addition to personal and commissioned paintings. Megan lives in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis with her husband and son.

NEMAA: Tell us a little bit about your artwork.

Megan: My work is a study of form, color and composition. Painting primarily in oil, I create illustrative images with strong line work and a sense of balance and calm. Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts Movement, which is sometimes cited as a prelude to Modernism, influence my style. Nature and organic forms inspire my compositions. I explore pattern, light and shadow, and color in my paintings. My background in illustration manifests in many of my works, lending a narrative nature to the compositions.

NEMAA: What was your inspiration/process for the Leaves and Fish artwork that is used for the cover of the 2014 Artist Directory & Guide?

Megan: I started on my Leaves & Fish painting while I was on an artists' weekend retreat in 2010 and completed it in 2011. It was actually a bit of a break through and new direction for me. Leaves, fish, birds, all have a similar shape that I am attracted to. With Leaves & Fish I looked at the subject matter as part of a pattern.

NEMAA: What are you working on right now?

Megan: I am currently working on a One-a-Week painting project that I started last June, and will wrap up this June with a year's work of weekly paintings. I am concurrently working on creating a body of work of larger paintings that will be a further exploration of the concept I established with Leaves & Fish. Many of my weekly paintings are serving as studies for these larger works to come.

Where can we see more of your artwork?

Megan: I am posting my weekly paintings on my blog: MeganMooreArt.blogspot.com. My studio space is in #423 in the Northrup King Building. I am currently the featured artist at the Midtown Global Market Art Shoppe (through the end of April), and will be displaying work in the Sherburn County Government Center for the month of April. You can also find listings for my upcoming shows on the events page of my website: meganmoore.com, and a list of local shops that carry prints of my work is on the purchase page.