Penelope Illustration • Penelope Dullaghan

You know you’re struggling when you find yourself looking for ways to discontinue things in your life. Like this blog. I have been searching for ways to make it disappear for an hour now, but Brianna (who built my site) must have hidden it from me. Sneaky girl.
I’m not sure what brings on this feeling. [...]

Hello there!
I have added two more pieces to the News Section, if you’d like to check them out. I shared sketches this time on one of them.
Thanks for looking! Have a good day!

A great assignment I finished recently was a piece for Vegetarian Times. This story was about weight gain pitfalls associated with vegetarianism. Some of which are:
- Focusing on what you’re cutting out of your diet instead of looking at the wonderful things you can put into it,
- Overly refined diets (think refined sugars and carbs [...]

There is a new magazine just hitting the shelves called Thriving Family, a publication by Focus on the Family. They came to me for an editorial piece and some spots to go along with the article.
The story was about “The Wise Stepmom” and it detailed what the modern, kind stepmom is like. (Not the wicked [...]

Recently I had the pleasure of working for Oprah Magazine again (the December issue with Ellen Degeneres on the cover). This time I have two spots in the beauty column. The first little drawing was about people in India who shave their heads twice in their lives for spiritual reasons. And the second was about [...]

Recently I had the pleasure of working for Oprah Magazine again (the December issue with Ellen Degeneres on the cover). This time I have two spots in the beauty column. The first little drawing was about people in India who shave their heads twice in their lives for spiritual reasons. And the second was about [...]

A few days ago I was driving back from yoga training, listening to NPR and heard Karen Armstrong speak. I’d read her memoir “The Spiral Staircase” a few years ago and liked it, and hearing her voice brought her more to life for me. But I only caught half of the conversation because I arrived [...]

It’s been a rough couple of days…
Cranky. Snotty. Drooly. Over-tired. Fighting. Tearful. Teething. Crying. Impatient. Sore. Done.
Just.
Done.

I recently finished a great book simply called “Buddha” by Deepak Chopra. It was just fascinating. A real page turner and luckily, a quick read (that’s a blessing with a baby in tow). It is a fictional account of the life of Buddha, from his upbringing as Prince Siddhartha to his days as the wandering [...]

I’ve gotten a couple of requests in the comments to share about my process and what mediums I use in my work. So while I have a few little bits I need to keep to myself, I thought I’d share most everything else:

First off, I do all my sketching on tissue paper. Because I don’t [...]

noticing similarities on my walk. scribbly tar lines. scribbly trees.
noticing that i feel different when I make space for yoga and sitting every day. creating ways to do that.
noticing that i breathe too shallowly when i rush around. when i am mindful i breathe more deeply.
noticing that when i write things down they come true. [...]

I have really come to love cooking over the last few years. I find it soothing — a way to stop everything else and just focus on the task at hand. It’s so simple… from getting everything out onto the counter to prepping and chopping, and smelling the flavors start mixing… It’s a good way [...]