Meet Olivia O’Ryan | Multimedia Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivia O’Ryan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I never wanted to do anything else! I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an Artist. I wanted to draw and create things that made me happy and it was always a bonus if it made someone else happy too. My first inspiration was my great grandmother from Iceland; every time she visited my amma here in the U.S. She spent most of her time painting landscapes and flowers with watercolor paints. it wasn’t until high school and attending Craft fairs with my grandma that I realized I could start selling my artwork. I made it an official business after I lost my job during the coronavirus outbreak. I now get to travel whenever i can attend an event as a vendor to share my Art and make people smile!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think my earliest memories of drawing had to be replicating all the Pokémon on some wrapping paper we had in the house. I’ve loved Pokémon almost all my life and I think that had a big impact on my creative capabilities. I loved trying to create my own creatures especially when they had to do with horses and wolves.
being exposed to such amazing ideas growing up and even still to this day fantasy genre movies and incredible CGI , animated movies, anime, some of my favorite artists from all around the world and of course nature have all played important parts in where I get my inspiration from.

Being able to mash together a few different animals and an aspect or two of nature or something like clothing, jewelry , accessories,etc and creating something on paper , wood plaques or canvas with what I can visualize in my head is really what makes my art mine.

I love creating fantasy creatures probably more than anything else I feel it really brings out who I am as a person, and figuring that out wasn’t easy but if often never is, listening to and believing in yourself and what makes you happy over all the hate and judgemental eyes is an important key to being successful in any capacity!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would likely honestly offer up a room in my own home for a week. Probably hangout and play video games we both love, get a bunch of food to grill outside and have an awesome feast, maybe do some crafting and get in over our heads, play with my cats and take my dog on long walks, visit the library or some bookstores, Maybe even take a trip to either of my grandparents homes and hangout on the patio outside talking about anything and just enjoying nature.
Enjoying the little things like that make the most lasting memories and can be the most fun when you’re living in the moment with the people you care about most!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have a very specific artistic style and specific things I like to create, so much so that not everyone has been encouraging. I’ll never forget the support I got from my highschool Art teacher Stephen Gioffre when I really need the encouragement to keep on creating things that made me happy. My biggest supporter these days is without a doubt my fiancé Brandon Clark, without him I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today and he loves seeing what I create and is always the first to see something new, I feel truly lucky to have his support.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pheowolfcreations/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pheowolfcreations

Image Credits
All artwork and photos of artwork done by me: Olivia O’Ryan ( pheowolf creations)