Apr 23, 2020

Community Spotlight: Siobhan O'Dwyer; Digital Creative Influencer and Featured Artist!

This week's community spotlight is on Siobhan O'Dwyer! Siobhan is a creative influencer and pharmacist who splits her time between both of her homes, New York City and California. She began creating as a way of expressing herself during a time of change when she left California to live full time in NYC. A world full of nature and peace was flipped to subway rides and chaos. Adjusting to this new life took time and she relied on her creative outlets to help cope emotionally. Floral patterns became a theme she loved working with. The bright, busy, and vibrant colors speak to her personality and each photo varies from one to the next!

Siobhan has 2 cover designs in our new 2021-22 Academic Line: Wildflowers Daisy Planner and the brand new Peony Dreams Soft Cover! Learn more about her below and submit your own artwork for a future cover here!

Tell us a little bit about you!

I'm Siobhan! A digital creative influencer based in California, focusing primarily on my own digital art and editing alongside brand work and collaborations. I began my journey when I first moved to New York City- the beautifully chaotic melting pot that first was my greatest challenge, which in turn proved to be my greatest success when it comes to creating.

Tell us a little bit more about your creative journey and some of your techniques!

I have zero educational background when it comes to graphic design work and photography. I took a few courses on how to work my first DSLR when I started out in photography a few years ago, but every edit you see on my accounts is self-taught! I went through pharmacy school, where I am also a practicing pharmacist on the side of my creative work. I grew up always having a strong creative/ emotional outlet. For the majority of my childhood, I was focused on competitive dance until college, which slowly transitioned into first basic photography and travel, and eventually grew into my signature floral graphic designs and influencer collaborations. None of it was ever planned with editing- it was my outlet where I channeled my emotions or changes going on in my life. You can find some details on how NYC pushed me so hard creatively inside my planner (YAY!). I was your typical overwhelmed girl having just moved from California, packed between hundreds of people on my subway commutes to and from my pharmacy, and just sort of distracted my mind during those moments with editing- eventually vibrant floral scenes became my trend. I take bits and pieces of floral photos I've taken from all over the world and use a collage technique to create one full image. You'll notice each one is slightly different, either in color (collages of various colors versus sticking with different shades of one color), specific flowers (creating one image of just flowers lets say from NYC farmer's markets, or the Big Sur CA coastline, or mixing them all up)- all of which is based on my mood I am feeling that day when I sit down to edit.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

Ohhh, this one is so hard! Inspiration is endless for me. As much as I love my editing process and satisfaction emotionally I get from creating, I equally have such a passion for finding more outside of what I do that fuels me. I could talk all day on this topic, but to point out some- music, poetry, fashion, and history. I love reading and watching documentaries on the 60/70's festival culture- Woodstock in particular. That entire era with music and fashion is so fascinating to me! I also find a lot of inspiration from books (Jack Kerouac and his free, reckless spirit make me feel so alive when I read his stories). And, of course, other artists that I've always admired; Van Gogh is my favorite. As much as I can be a perfectionist when it comes to my floral editing and the time I spend creating each piece, I also find so much inspiration in the imperfections/ madness of life. I am such a free soul at heart, as structured and self-disciplined as I am on a daily basis. Freedom, love, heartbreaks, mistakes, laughing with friends, missing loved ones- it's how I got to where I am today and truly how I got to where I am creatively.

What are your favorite bloom products, and why?

I've used bloom's soft cover planners for several years now, so I couldn't love them more! I am so honored and excited that my designs are now on 2 covers for this year's 2021-22 Academic Line! Check out the Wildflowers Daisy Planner and the brand new Peony Dreams Soft Cover Planner! I also LOVE the planner stickers- it makes staying organized for me so fun!