Congrats Mike & Ashleigh!!

(The Bride and Groom on their Wedding Day!!)

Hello Again My Darlings!!

I'm so thrilled to be sharing this incredibly special Wedding Portrait commission with you all. Many months ago my most beautiful, supportive, friend through the ages, Jill Zimmerman asked if I would be interested in painting a portrait of her girlfriend (blushing bride Ashleigh) and now husband as a wedding gift. I was so BEYOND honored that she believed in my work enough to actually commission me for this super special gift. It took only a few simple sketches to settle on the direction and one fully-loaded photo album to kickstart the final piece.

I have to share just how nervous both Jill and I were about this gift lol. It was, after all, a pretty important illustration. But when I received a text from Jill this past Saturday informing me that Ashleigh was brought to tears at the sight of her portrait, I knew that all the stress was worth it. Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt so emotional over a piece of my artwork before, and the greatest reward has to be having been apart of such a special moment in two people's lives. All around tearjerker!!

Congrats to the beautiful, beaming, happy couple Mike & Ashleigh; wishing you all the love, light, and laughter in the world!! And last but not least, thank you to my precious friend Jill for being so much more than I could ever dream of in a friend. I love you always!!

Much much love,

Meag xx

Cook & Gates

Hello Loves,

Happy happy Sunday!! I'm so sorry for my mini blog hiatus. Life has been so busy lately between wrapping up my evening classes, finishing freelance projects, and working at Cook & Gates. Finally this afternoon I had the opportunity to paint just for me and I can't tell you how good it felt!! For those of you who don't know me personally, I started working with an awesome hand dyed bag company Cook & Gates back in February. I've been meaning to share the news with you all because it has honestly been one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had.

Sara Gates, the owner/designer, is such a killer business woman. I've picked up so much just by watching her simultaneously run her own screen printing studio Kingsland Printing and handbag line. My lifelong dream has always been to be my own brand and sell accessories with my illustrations on them. Working with Sara makes me realize how easily that dream can become reality. She has supported me so much in my own career, mentioning me in her interview with NBC's Thread NY, and even printing a sample of my textile design for the scarves I'm producing this summer.

At work I do anything from creating techpacks for our handbag designs, the most recent being our backpack for summer, meeting with manufacturers and scouring the garment district for fabric and hardware, to making fun graphics for our hangtags, pocket screen prints, blog posts and communicating with vendors for cool promotional sales etc. The best part has to be working alongside Sara's sweetest french bulldog Janice (aka the love of my life). She wants to be in the action always and insists on sitting next to me at my desk in her own chair, too cute!!

My mom has always said that life is about the journey, especially when it comes to your career. I have to admit that for the first time, in what feels like forever, I'm finally enjoying just that.

Much love,

Meag xx