After years of lugging around burlap coffee sacks, hand-cutting stencils and traveling to art shows, Megan Koopman Morgan launched her commercial Coffee Art Print series this month with Portfolio Graphics. Unlike the artist's original works, which are available starting at US$1,000, reproductions of the Coffee Art Print series are being sold for approximately US$50 through major retailers like Hobby Lobby.
"I have a passion for cycling, coffee, and flowers that I like to share through my original Coffee Art Prints," Koopman Morgan said. "The original images are developed from my travels and experiences over several years.”
The Coffee Art Print series is now available through major retailers
The story starts back in 2000 when Koopman Morgan collected a huge stack of used coffee bags from a small coffee roaster during the time she and her husband Jamie Morgan were living and racing mountain bikes in Telluride. "The local roaster provided them free if Megan would just haul them away," Morgan said. "We kept this huge stack of old coffee bags in our basement through three moves while Megan promised she was going to do a great art project someday - even though I pleaded to throw them away every time I had to move the huge stack."
In 2008, Koopman Morgan began sketching concepts for cycling images for the coffee bags.
After years of lugging around used coffee sacks, Koopman Morgan created a popular series
She then hand-cut stencils, applying monochromatic paint to the used coffee bags, with early pieces including images of cyclists from Ottavio Bottecchia and Bernard Hinault to Ned Overend.
In recent years, Koopman Morgan held art shows in various Colorado cities, and the bestselling images were always hand-painted versions of antique bicycles with flowers or children’s tricycles. After a successful show at Utah's Park City Kimball Arts Festival last August, Portfolio Graphics approached Koopman Morgan to license new works internationally.
The new series recreates the impression of the original loose coffee bag canvas. Portfolio Graphics has licensed five new images for distribution as wrapped canvas, paper prints and wall decal pieces with retailers including Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, Home Goods & Winners.
Koopman Morgan is continuing to create new original Coffee Art Print pieces also. You can learn more about her artwork at coffeeartprint.com.
