"Redemption" Original Dragonfly Drawing
Original scientific illustration of a dragonfly inspired by a Green Darner (Anax junius). Artwork created by Samantha Gallagher in colored pencils, alcohol markers, and ink on archival 11"x14" Bristol paper. This paper size fits easily into standard off-the-shelf sized frames with mats available at many arts and craft stores. (Ideally this will be framed within a mat to keep the colored pencils away from direct contact with glass.)
This drawing was created as a way to help provide relief to communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025 in Jamaica. The funds from the sale of this original piece will go to Global Empowerment Mission's Hurricane Melissa relief fund,
https://www.globalempowermentmission.org/mission/hurricane-melissa/Please read the paragraph at the bottom of the link above to learn more about this organization.
I was regretful that I didn't finish this piece until over 2 weeks after the hurricane struck. But aid is still very much needed, and the situation in Jamaica is no longer in (most) mainstream news while many on the island are still suffering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCGNHnp7kM&t=33s
At the time of your purchase, please provide an email address. I will forward you the receipt for the donation and you will receive the tracking information for your package. I will also send a printed donation receipt along with your package.
8"x10" prints of this drawing are available here:
https://www.samanthagallagherillustration.com/product-page/redemption-8-x10-print
$5 from the sale of each print will be donated to the same fund listed above.
If you want to read the very long road of how this drawing and fundraiser came to be, I present the long, rambling journey below:
The inspiration for this drawing was taken from a dragonfly specimen I caught some years ago as part of a mandatory insect collection required to be submitted for a graduate class I was taking toward my Entomology degree. The whole summer I collected insects to fulfill the assignment, over a hundred different insect families, which wasn't as easy as it seemed. I tried to collect as many deceased insects as I could find, but unfortunately had to capture some live ones, too. He was one of them.
I was at my in-laws' house, in their driveway. I had my bug net in my car (because what good entomologist leaves home without it?). There was a HUGE dragonfly buzzing around us, and I didn't have any in my collection so far. Still, I felt guilty at the thought of capturing him, but also felt compelled to do so as I really wanted to do my best in all of my classes. Dragonflies are usually really hard to catch, but I got out my net anyway, thinking (and honestly, hoping) I didn't stand a chance... Wrong. He flew in immediately. Somehow, that made it seem worse. Almost like he was giving himself to me, as a sacrifice. I kept him alive long enough to identify him properly (and make absolutely sure I didn't already have a member of this family in my collection... I didn't). Then I had to freeze him. The whole thing made me feel terrible, and still does, after all these years.
There are a few in my collection that make me feel this way- the memories I have of finding them, the excitement, the thrill of something new... and then the guilt, knowing what I had to do if I wanted to include them in my collection.
I promised myself, and the dragonfly, that some day I would try to do something to make his sacrifice worthwhile. I knew that meant eventually I would draw him, but just drawing him didn't seem like enough. Who benefits from that? Him, or me? Sure, I can attempt to show off his beauty to the world with an artistic tribute, but that seems almost a bit egotistical on my part... but it's all I have. Well, that, and this immense guilt.
I still feel like capturing him was a mistake... a regret. Him, and all of the other live insects in that collection. I crave forgiveness, but from whom? I don't believe in a higher power, so I guess I need forgiveness from myself, because I am the only one who cares. Feeling this need for redemption, I started listening to Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" before starting this piece. Over and over and over. "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." Those words, borrowed from Marcus Garvey, resonated. Obviously not the way he intended it, but the idea of we are the only thing holding ourselves back. I don't want to appropriate his words or how Marley intended the song, but I think we can all benefit from letting go of things, mental restraints that don't serve us, whatever they may be.
If you have made a mistake or decision that you regret, but you learn from it and vow to do better, can you forgive yourself? I felt like allowing myself to feel forgiven meant that I wasn't taking accountability. Now I understand that mistakes, and learning from them and doing better, is just life.
As I settled into working on the drawing, deciding how I would use it to finally feel redemption myself, Hurricane Melissa was approaching category 5 status and bearing down on Jamaica. I had already been reading a lot about Marley, and his influences, and Jamaica, after listening to "Redemption Song" for about the 50th time. With the "Rocksteady Classics" on Spotify accompanying me, everything came full circle and I figured out how to use the dragonfly for something good.
For the rest of this year, part of the proceeds from sales of prints and ornaments from this dragonfly will go to hurricane relief in Jamaica.
Starting in 2026, another charity will be chosen.