Emily O Regan

00:00:00 Emily O’Regan: But I definitely do find it hard to just like sit and do nothing, even if I’m out with my friends or my family, I’ll be sitting there thinking, I could be a home drawing. Being an artist is a job. It’s a career. It funds people’s lives. It’s not just something like a little bit fun or something that someone does on the side. It is people’s careers.

00:00:23 Emily O’Regan: But in the last year or two and even meeting other people with ADHD and other neurodivergence’s, I’ve kind of realised it’s always been part of who I am, even just because I didn’t get the treatment. It doesn’t mean I wasted anything. I think if anything, it kind of helps me be a little bit more creative. My mind is always going, always coming up with ideas. And it’s kind of nice. It’s part of who I am. I wouldn’t change it.

00:00:50 Geraldine Hennessy: So today I am joined by multimedia artist Emily O’Regan. You’re very welcome to the podcast Emily.

00:00:56 Emily O’Regan: Thank you, hello.

00:00:59 Geraldine Hennessy: So can you take us back to the beginning? What are your earliest memories of creating art? And was there a specific moment where you realised, this is what I want to do forever?

00:01:10 Emily O’Regan: It’s kind of hard. I can’t remember not being into art. So I don’t know if there’s necessarily like a first time that I can think of, but like my aunt’s an artist and my mom has always been really, really creative. So for my young age, she always made sure we were doing some sort of arts and crafts and things. And I was always the person in primary school who was sitting there drawing or doing something like that. But I think it was kind of when I was in my first year of college actually that I realised, actually I don’t want to do what I’m doing in college. I want to be an artist and I can actually do it. It doesn’t have to be a hobby. It doesn’t have to be something I’m doing on the side. It can actually be my main focus.

00:01:47 Geraldine Hennessy: Okay. So you had kind of almost like a light bulb moment.

00:01:51 Emily O’Regan: Yeah, exactly.

00:01:53 Geraldine Hennessy: And how did you land on your current aesthetic? And do you feel like you found your voice or is it constantly changing?

00:02:00 Emily O’Regan: I think it’s constantly changing for me. I think I’m too young to say that I have found my voice now. I think even it doesn’t matter what age you are though, you’re always gonna be changing, especially as an artist, because you’ll see a piece of art and take inspiration from it. And you could change a million miles away from what you are or it could just change slightly. But I do think I quite like making stuff that’s kind of like a little bit cute. I do, that is something that I enjoy, even when I’m not creating for the business or to sell, it is, I do like creating those little bits that are kind of cute and fun and make people smile.

00:02:33 Geraldine Hennessy: So you once believed that becoming an artist would never work for you. Was that doubt coming from internal pressure or was that a reflection of how creative careers were presented to you in school?

00:02:46 Emily O’Regan: I think a mix of both. I think I never really believed, and I still find it hard to believe now sometimes that people would look at my art as something that they actually want themselves, that like something that they want to buy, even when people buy stuff off me now, I’m like, are you sure? Are you sure you want this? And I think like in school, like when I loved art class, I loved all my art teachers. I was really lucky to have really, really good art teachers, but I never felt like they wanted to push me into an artistic career. It was always something they’re like, oh, maybe you can find a job that also is kind of artsy or creative. And that’s something that really annoyed me and still annoys me now is when people are like, oh, something quite artsy. It’s like, no, being an artist is a job. It’s a career. It funds people’s lives. It’s not just something like a little bit fun or something that someone does on the side. It is people’s careers.

00:03:34 Geraldine Hennessy: Yeah, exactly. And I suppose does that, it almost is like as well like that, oh, what you really do or what’s your process for jobs, that it can’t be your actual job. I can understand why that would be frustrating. And you define yourself as a multimedia artist. Your portfolio both stands like digital sticker design and traditional oil painting. Do you find that the discipline required for the more traditional forms, the traditional oil paintings, help ground your digital work? Or do they feel like two completely separate creative modes?

00:04:13 Emily O’Regan: I think it kind of depends. Like sometimes I do feel like the digital is very different to anything traditional because it is, it’s such a different practice. It’s like when you start doing digital work at first, it can be quite frustrating because even if you have like the skills that you’re used to having from traditional things, it’s very different. But I think that now that I’ve kind of gotten into both of them and kind of have some skills in both digital and traditional, I think they kind of bounce off each other. So sometimes I’d be doing something traditional that I know that I’ve gotten inspiration from like sort of my digital work. I try and kind of have like a flow through all of my work.

00:04:46 Geraldine Hennessy: Okay, okay. So they’re not really completely separate. They do tie into each other as such for you?

00:04:52 Emily O’Regan: Yeah, I think for me, I wouldn’t like if they were so, so different. Like a lot of my art, because like how I would describe myself as multimedia, they can seem kind of a bit contrasting from each other. But for me, it’s all I’m putting in the same practice, the same amount of effort and thought before I make it, while I’m making it after I make it. So for me, they don’t feel too contrasting. But from an outside view, they might look at like something that I’ve done in like ceramics or something that I’ve done in oil painting and think, where’s the cute little animals? Or something, you know, it’s so they look contrast to other people. But for me, it’s the same process.

00:05:27 Geraldine Hennessy: Okay, okay. Yeah. And there’s such a massive, joyful community around stationery and stickers online. What drew you specifically to creating stickers and prints Under the Calypso name?

00:05:41 Emily O’Regan: Well, my mum actually owns an early learning and stationery shop. And she has loads of like really cute stationery and like art supplies. So I was kind of always wearing stationery and always loved it. So I blame her for that side. For the stickers, always love stickers. And I thought, why not make them? If I’m going to be buying loads of them and seeing loads of them and finding joy from them, why can’t I create a little bit of that and see what they’ll think? And so, so far they seem to be like, no, it seems to be keeping up. I don’t think stickers will go out of fashion anytime soon.

00:06:10 Geraldine Hennessy: And you were diagnosed with ADHD at 17. Research often shows that women go undiagnosed longer because they’re skilled at masking or internalising their struggles. Did receiving that label feel like a limitation? Or what’s a massive moment of validation for you?

00:06:29 Emily O’Regan: It was weird. I think many people who have been diagnosed with anything at a later age, it’s almost a grieving process you go through, especially at that kind of pinnacle age where you’re just about to be an adult. It’s like, have I wasted these childhood years? Was I missing something? Because I wasn’t getting the treatment or the things that I needed at the time, have I missed anything? But in the last year or two and even meeting other people with ADHD and other neurodivergences, I’ve kind of realised it’s always been part of who I am, even just because I didn’t get the treatment. It doesn’t mean I wasted anything. I think if anything, it kind of helps me be a little bit more creative. My mind is always going, always coming up with ideas. And it’s kind of nice. It’s part of who I am. I wouldn’t change it.

00:07:15 Geraldine Hennessy: OK, so that kind of relationship itself, I suppose, has evolved from maybe that initial fear to now using us as a creative engine. Would that be right?

00:07:24 Emily O’Regan: Yeah, exactly, because it’s just part of how my brain works and I can’t change it and I don’t want to. So if that’s how I’m going to create, then that’s how I’m going to create.

00:07:35 Geraldine Hennessy: And talking about creating, when a new idea strikes, what’s your immediate process? Do you sketch it out, write down the idea or just dive straight in?

00:07:45 Emily O’Regan: I would never write it down because I will never look at it again if I write something down. But I will try and sketch it or usually I’ll try and look up inspiration immediately, maybe look up different artists or maybe go on something like Pinterest or even scroll to Instagram and try and find inspiration for what I’m thinking of. I find it very hard to create something without a reference. So I’ll often I’ll photo bash. I might like craft different photos and stick them together to try and get different references before I kind of will go straight into sketching or creating.

00:08:13 Geraldine Hennessy: And talk about your influences there. Who would be, I suppose, your biggest influence from an artistic point of view?

00:08:20 Emily O’Regan: So what I love and when I always come back to is Grayson Perry. I’ve just always loved his work. I just think he’s such an amazing like just his character. And like I love that he does the ceramics. I love that he does like the doll making and his big tapestries. And they’re so colourful. But then when you look really close into them, they have like this different kind of deeper meaning. And I just I love I love that about him. He’s always been a big inspiration.

00:08:44 Geraldine Hennessy: Very good. And transitioning from graphite, drawing and oil painting to designing stickers, which often involves digital work, is a very big shift to prefer the mess less of paint and clay or the precision of digital art.

00:09:00 Emily O’Regan: aspects of both. I do like being able to kind of be in a big area and kind of express yourself with things like clay, especially with clay, because it is it’s so messy, like that you can’t not be messy while doing anything with ceramics. So I do kind of enjoy that kind of when you need an area, you need like a big area for it. So sometimes being able to just like sit down with like my tablet in front of me or with my laptop, whatever it is, and just kind of be able to relax and know there’s no cleanup afterwards is my stay. But I definitely think there’s aspects of both that I enjoy.

00:09:31 Geraldine Hennessy: And talking about the more joyful art you’re like, like in a world that can sometimes feel really quite heavy, does creating joyful art feel like an act of rebellion almost?

00:09:44 Emily O’Regan: I don’t know if it feels like a rebellion to me, because I think that it’s important to have the joyful art, obviously. But I think it’s I would never say it’s a rebellion against the darker things that are that are going on, because I think they’re also an important part of art. I think they help people to create. And I’ve seen some really beautiful work that’s really cute, but talking about deeper topics, things that are going on in America, Ireland, whatever, wherever it’s going on. So I think it’s I would never say it’s a rebellion. I think it’s just another another way of expression.

00:10:15 Geraldine Hennessy: OK, OK. And how does filming your process for your YouTube channel change the way you work? Like does having a camera on add pressure or does it help you keep you accountable?

00:10:28 Emily O’Regan: I think for me, it’s definitely a lot of pressure. I find it very hard to record a whole process. I think I think I kind of forget to record. Usually just ends up being like pictures and things of the last last few steps. I find it very, very hard to create. So I feel like every time the camera goes on, I just lose all my skills immediately. It’s like it’s like there’s 10 people watching me. But if someone was if an actual person was watching me, I think I’d be fine. I don’t know what it is about the camera. It’s like too scary to me. So it is something that I struggle with, but I’m trying to get over it because it’s important to get your eyes out. But it’s something that’s definitely scary to me.

00:11:02 Geraldine Hennessy: I suppose as well, it’s kind of on like you don’t know what’s known almost. But with it, I get that. Yeah. Yeah.

00:11:11 Geraldine Hennessy: And you find it hard to switch off and just be without creating?

00:11:16 Emily O’Regan: Yeah, definitely. I don’t like I’m I’m rarely sitting down doing nothing. I’m always either thinking about my next project or thinking that, oh, there’s something in my sketchbook that I need to finish or there’s a painting there in the corner or why am I just sitting there watching TV?. I can be making something. And I don’t know if that’s like the ADHD part of my brain or if it’s the artist part of my brain or maybe both of them kind of given out to each other. But I definitely do find it hard to just like sit and do nothing, even if I’m out with my friends or my family, I’ll be sitting there thinking, I could be a home drawing.

00:11:47 Geraldine Hennessy: Very good. It’s part of your whole life, though. It’s something you make up. Yeah.

00:11:52 Geraldine Hennessy: And the business side of things is often where artists struggle. What specific like systems or tools or help have you found to manage the admin side that doesn’t overwhelm your creativity?

00:12:06 Emily O’Regan: I think because like there’s so many business owners in my family and with my mom being a business owner, I go to her a lot of the time for kind of advice for like the more like financial part of things because I use assistant like I use Etsy at the moment, they kind of keep track of all like the financial things for me. So that’s kind of handy, but it is definitely something I struggle with. It’s something that I kind of need to sit down and talk to myself about. Be a bit more defined by myself because it’s definitely something I struggle with.

00:12:36 Geraldine Hennessy: Oh, yeah, I suppose if it’s going to be your career, it’s going to be something that you have to just get at. Like you have to just deal with this and just yeah.

00:12:42 Emily O’Regan: Yeah, there’s going to be bad parts of everything like.

00:12:45 Geraldine Hennessy: Exactly. I can’t all be Rosie, I suppose.

00:12:48 Emily O’Regan: No, no.

00:12:49 Geraldine Hennessy: And as a young female artist, what barriers or stereotypes have you faced?

00:12:55 Emily O’Regan: Oh, I feel like I feel like this is something every woman could talk about like all day. I think one of the main things that always me is I feel like a lot of women artists are kind of they’re not taken as seriously. I think especially because I’m like I’m a young artist, people kind of look at me and think, oh, maybe it’s a phase or she’s making nice pictures or nice things at the moment. And especially because my art is a lot of it that like I would put it on the Internet is very like cutesy and kind of fun. And some of the stuff would be even kind of like what people would describe as girly. I feel like sometimes it’s not taken as seriously because I’m sure it’s just like girly or whatever people are saying. There is obviously a lot more support than there that like kind of drowns out all the negative stuff, but it is very frustrating sometimes here in the way people would talk about women artists. It’s it is it is something that annoys me.

00:13:42 Geraldine Hennessy: I suppose it’s kind of belittling as well when you like it can be cute, but it can also be, you know, groundbreaking. It’s still serious.

00:13:50 Emily O’Regan: It’s still my job. It’s still how I make money just because it’s cute doesn’t make it any less.

00:13:54 Geraldine Hennessy: Absolutely. And if you could speak to a young creative and quirk right now who feels like they don’t fit them all, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give them?

00:14:07 Emily O’Regan: I’d probably tell them just go for it. Like stop listening to that voice in your head that saying, oh, what should I wear? Good enough. Is it is it too bad? No one’s going to want to see this because I still say that to myself and I’m starting to see success. And I have so many friends that are so supportive of me. And I think it’s just about putting yourself out there. Just just go for it. Just do it. It might be your thing. It might not. But you won’t you won’t know if you don’t try. So it’s just just going for it, really.

00:14:34 Geraldine Hennessy: Absolutely. Absolutely. And you’re still young and have so much ahead of you. What’s the big dream for Calypso Print and stickers?

00:14:47 Emily O’Regan: Well, the big dream would be that it is that it does become my full time job. I’d love to get more into the side of content creation as well. It’s something that I do enjoy, although it does scare me. But it’s something that I really enjoy kind of making more full length videos, maybe properly uploading to YouTube full time as well. I’m really starting to get my art out there, whether it’s in like markets or even in galleries and things. That’s the long term goal. It’s a long way away, but I can I can see it.

00:15:12 Geraldine Hennessy: Great. You sound like a woman with a plan.

00:15:18 Geraldine Hennessy: Very good. Well, thank you, Emily, for joining us on the Cork Creative podcast. If you’d like to learn more about Emily and her art, you can find links to her socials on CorkCreative.ie.

00:15:28 Emily O’Regan: Thank you.