"Amma" means MotherThis is the original watercolor painting I did for Imagine: A Benefit Art Exhibition (see the previous post for more information). The word "Amma" means Mother in Sanskrit, one of the oldest written languages. To me this image represents the simple yet powerful contentment of motherhood– being able to provide nourishment for your child. Unfortunately mothers in so many parts of the world are unable to uphold this basic human right for their families without help. This piece, and many others, will be for sale to help raise money for the Whole Planet Foundation, established by Whole Foods Market.

"The Whole Planet Foundation's mission is to create economic partnerships with the poor in those developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. Through innovative assistance for entrepreneurship - including direct microcredit loans and tangible support for other community partnership projects - we seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human being we work with in order to create wealth and prosperity in emerging economies."

New Watercolor Piece in Show!I will have an original watercolor painting for sale at the Imagine Benefit Art Exhibition in New Jersey. Profits from the pieces sold at the show go to the Whole Planet Foundation, which gives micro-loans to women in developing countries so they can start their own business and break the cycle of poverty. The opening reception will be on Saturday, January 3rd, from 6–11pm, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. My friend Lauren Roth spearheaded the show– great job, Lauren!
For more information about the Whole Planet Foundation, click here.

Our Wedding InvitationsOne of the really fun (but exhausting!) parts of planning our wedding was that I designed our invitations. It was a little bit of a challenge, since we wanted something classy, but fun & laid-back, and we wanted to incorporate the best elements of a good party, which to us are awesome music, delicious drinks, and beautiful surroundings. We were lucky enough to have all of those elements (plus great food!) at our wedding, so I'm really happy with the fact that the end result rang true to what our invitations promised our guests.
Of course while I designed the invites, I certainly didn't print them– that distinction goes to Soho Letterpress, recommended to me by my friends Jon & Matt Roscetti, who once worked there. They did an awesome job– and I was so excited to see my designs printed so beautifully.

My first post since becoming a wife!Well, I've tied the knot– and now I plan on posting a lot more, since I won't be consumed by wedding charts, binders, magazines and schematics anymore. Hope everyone had a great Halloween– to celebrate (late) I thought I'd do a drawing of two of my favorite characters from one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors! (That's Merv Pumpkinhead & Matthew the raven from the Sandman by Neil Gaiman, naturally.)

Traveling......I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Between watching a lot of No Reservations & Bizarre Foods, and thinking about our first trip to another country (other than the Bahamas) when we go to Costa Rica for our honeymoon– and then a few months later to Anguilla for a trip we won– I'm constantly daydreaming about traveling! I'm already planning all of our other globe-trotting adventures in my mind, and Thailand is someplace I'd love to go to. Now I've just gotta convince my fiance to come with me!

Hey-o! We Have a Winner!I had entered some of my Whole Foods Market plexiglass boards into a contest held by the Chalk Ink brand of liquid chalk paint markers...and I won the July contest. Whoo hoo! That is one of my all-time favorite plexi-boards– because I can't wait to see a very similar scene when I go to Costa Rica for my honeymoon! Click here for the Chalk Ink blog, where the contest results are posted.

Make Up AgainHere it is with type! The Porcelain font is pretty over-used, I know, but it's used so much because it's so darn pretty! And I can't get enough of Mexcellant– that is an awesome font.

Make-Up with Me

Well, it's been a while! But here's a little watercolor I did for a "glam night" make-up event thing. It was really fun to paint again– and to post again!

Hire an IllustratorI've been so busy lately that I completely forgot to post about joining Hire an Illustrator! HAI is a great-looking, professional portfolio site where art directors and others can find the right illustrator for them. Check out my page: http://hireanillustrator.com/erin-gallagher

Bjork– fin!

I started this piece a long time ago but put it aside when I changed my mind about the design elements. I am very happy to have finally completed it. On to the next thing!

Land's End, NYThis painting is also for an upcoming wedding of someone's. *hint, hint*

Orchids
This is a little drawing done for my very good friend's wedding invite.