Dundalk's Creative Spark announces new Artist-in-Residence

Dundalk's Creative Spark says it is pleased to announce the arrival of its third Artist-in-Residence for 2023, Laura Rafferty. 

Laura Rafferty, a Northern Irish artist and designer, has begun her residency in Creative Spark. With a background in fine art lecturing and design education, Laura has worked in various fields such as fine art painting, surface print design, ceramics, sculpture, figure/life drawing, conceptual art, digital art, and photography.  

Throughout her residency at Creative Spark, Laura Rafferty aims to hone her artistic skills and experiment with fresh ideas and techniques, leading to a series of fine art paintings and screen prints. With these works as a foundation, she intends to translate them into silk scarves and a couple of garments.  

Laura, who is also a textile craftsman, seamstress, maker, and general creative, has gained extensive experience as a freelancer in costume within the TV and Film industry. Drawing inspiration from her heritage, culture, education, and background, she developed a love for drawing, painting, and illustration styles, which led to the creation of the brand, Lara Lavine.  

The brand's designs explore the theme of Ireland's industrial heritage, focusing on the railways and ship merchants that built the Titanic. Rafferty's love for film, travel, music, literature, and Ireland's hardworking people has inspired her to create wearable art that is fun, quirky, creative, practical, flexible to wear, and vibrant. 

Be sure to follow @laralavinedesign on social media for more updates and design inspiration. You can also visit laralavine.com to learn more about Lara's time as Artist-in-Residence keep an eye out on Creative Spark’s social channels.  

The Creative Spark Residency Programme provides opportunities for visual artists and art professionals to research and develop their practices.

It supports both emerging and established visual artists working in any medium, but gives preference to those artists developing a body of work in a printmaking discipline. Each residency is supported by provision of studio space in Creative Spark, along with access to all the facilities and technical support. The residency generally lasts between 2-3 months.

This programme is supported by Create Louth (Arts Service of Louth County Council) and Arts Council Ireland.