‘Creative Convergence: Where Art & Design Meet’ Exhibition

VAI (Visual Artist Ireland) Exhibition

Let’s Talk Creative
Dublin City LEO & VAI Creative Business Programme
Venue: 2 Curved Street, Dublin 2

It was great to be part of this art and design pop-up group exhibition, organised by Dublin City LEO & VAI Creative Business Programme, curated by Valeria Ceregini, featuring myself Clare Lynch along with fellow artists, creatives and designers: Amanda Vencatasamy, Carolyn Walsh, Chris Judge, David Killeen, Derval Turbidy, Helen Mooney, Liv Webster, Liza Kelly, Katherine Shankey and Melissa Carton.

This exciting showcase featured a selection of works by a unique and original mix of Dublin’s artists and designers, highlighting the dynamic fusion of art and design in the city’s creative landscape. The exhibition, which took place on the 6th of March at the VAI exhibition space at 2 Curved Street, Dublin 2, celebrated the ongoing dialogue between the two disciplines, emphasising their ability to inform and inspire each other.

As part of the Dublin City LEO & VAI Creative Business Programme, which aims to support emerging creatives, Creative Convergence showcased visual art, design, limited-edition prints, photography, sculpture, books and originals pieces, each of which reflects Dublin’s vibrant cultural identity. This exhibition brought together local talent, offering visitors a chance to experience the diversity of the city’s creative scene in one captivating space.

Included are some framed high quality prints of my illustration work from the book, Hello Hinterland, written by Dublin-based poet and writer Martin Holohan, which I designed and illustrated. The book was displayed on a wooden stand, in front of the prints, to allow exhibition attendees to look at the full range of illustrations. Martin Holohan came along on the night to see his words on display with the illustrations. It was good to reminisce with him about the good times during the process of creating the book. It was a great experience to be part of the exhibition and come together with the other talented artists. There was a range of creative business advice talks on the night, which added to the evening.

Valeria Ceregini’s Curatorial Vision:
“This exhibition is a demonstration of the power of cross-disciplinary dialogue. The curation of work from diverse artists, designers and creatives serves to elevate the conversation around what defines art and design today. Creative Convergence does not merely present objects but explores the relationships between form, function, and emotional engagement, creating a space where boundaries blur, and creativity thrives. The show is a celebration of how art can influence design and how design can elevate art.

The concept of Creative Convergence is rooted in the idea that art and design are not isolated from one another. They are intertwined—each discipline feeding off the other to create new experiences and interpretations. In Dublin, a city known for its rich history of both artistic expression and innovative creatives, this exhibition is an opportunity to highlight the exciting collaborations that are pushing the boundaries of both fields. I’m incredibly proud to present such a talented group of artists, creatives and designers, each offering their unique perspective on how art and design meet in our world.

Pop-up Exhibition: Featuring works from local artists, Creative Convergence: Where Art and Design Meet demonstrates the dynamic and diverse artistic practices thriving within the city. The exhibition will offer a unique opportunity to experience Dublin’s artistic scene, featuring a wide array of mediums and styles.“

During the event we had a photographer, Sherii Shapoval, who took some fabulous shots of the opening night – See Serhii Shapoval

The exhibition was supported and promoted by Dublin City LEO & VAI Creative Business Programme. Visual Artists Ireland (VAI) is the representative body for visual artists in Ireland, supporting their professional development through advocacy, services, and opportunities.

March 13, 2025 /

Bounce Design Event

It was great to attend the new design event, BOUNCE, run by the IDI (Irish Design Network). The event ran over January 9th – 10th 2025, at Trinity College Dublin. This two-day event, crafted by the design community for the community, offered fresh, critical perspectives on the design process, giving designers a unique opportunity to explore, engage, and be inspired.

Since the previously run Dublin-based design festival Offset ceased – creatives have missed design conferences like this, as an opportunity to network and stay inspired with the latest projects happening in all areas of design worldwide, so this was a great step towards a positive resurgence of design inspiration and events in Dublin.

January 14, 2025 /

Luvin Letters in Design Conference

Great to attend the recent Dublin design event Luvin Letters In Design – for Typography & Lettering lovers, which ran over the 4th and 5th October in the Complex Arts Centre, Dublin 1.

There was an inspiring line up of speakers and some live mural painting with artists Theosone (Berlin), Milen Balbuzanov (Bulgaria), Horhay Design (Spain) and Calligrafreaks (Berlin).

Here’s to more of these design events returning to the Dublin design scene!

See more here: https://luvinletters.com

October 9, 2024 /

Dublin Art Book Fair 2023: Polyphonic

It’s great to see the book Hello Hinterland featured as part of Dublin Art Book Fair 2023: Polyphonic curated by Wendy Erskine. Hello Hinterland is a collection of illustrated stories and poetry celebrating the culture and heritage of Fingal County on the east coast of Ireland, written by Martin Holohan, and illustrated and designed by Clare Lynch Creative.

Polyphonic, launched on 7th December 2023, runs in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios from 8 December – 17 December 2023. Dublin Art Book Fair, Ireland’s leading art book fair and centre for artist books presents its thirteen edition. Taking place in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios over ten days, DABF champions small, creative and independent publishers, and both Irish and international artist books. Within this mix, over 500 newly published and unusual publications on art, design, visual culture, philosophy, architecture, select fiction and poetry will feature alongside a special selection of nominated books by Guest Curator Wendy Erskine.

Wendy Erskine’s theme Polyphonic, is celebrated further through a programme of talks, readings, workshops, book events and participatory events. Interested in the innumerable viewpoints, stories or perspectives that can originate from single source, Erskine’s theme, Polyphonic celebrates the creation of artwork that brings multiple voices together.

December 6, 2023 /

Shortlisted for the IDI Design Awards

Amazing News! Clare Lynch Creative been shortlisted in the IDI Irish Design Awards in two different categories. In the Packaging Design category for @agoodmoodfood.ie and also in the Book Illustration category for the recently launched illustrated poetry book ‘Hello Hinterland‘. Such exciting news!

Thanks very much to @idi_ireland. Brilliant news to receive!

The IDI (Irish Design Institute) host the Irish Design Awards ceremony annually, which celebrate and reward the best of Irish designers, nurturing the talent of the future and setting creative benchmarks for the industry.

Looking forward to the Awards Night Ceremony in the Marker Hotel on 17th November 2022 🙂

#IDIAwards #IDIAwards2022 #IDI #IDIDesignAwards

October 13, 2022 /

Hello Hinterland Book Launch

Really excited for the upcoming launch event for a book I illustrated, ‘Hello Hinterland’. The event will take place at Hodges Figgis Waterstones on Dawson Street, Dublin 2 on 28th April 2022 from 6-8pm.

Hello Hinterland is a collection of illustrated stories and poetry celebrating the culture and heritage of Fingal county on the east coast of Ireland, written by Martin Holohan. It’s colourful illustrations make it appealing to children, but it is a book for adults also, we want it to be enjoyed by everyone.

It was a pleasure to work on our first book together, from start to finish to this launch event. Martin is a charismatic person and writer. He gave me the freedom to work on the illustrations without direction, inspired by his writing. I then put the book design layout together using my graphic design skills, and we worked to get a quality hard-back print. Hopefully everyone will enjoy reading the book as much as we enjoyed creating it.

It is available to be purchased at Hodges Figgis (Waterstones) bookstore on Dawson Street (Dublin 2) and on their online store, Tales 4 Tadpoles bookstore on Drury Street (Dublin 2) and will be rolling out to a range of other bookstores in Dublin and Ireland in the coming months. It can also be ordered online from the book publisher Choice Publishing.

See more about the event here:

www.waterstones.com/events/hello-hinterland-book-launch/dublin-hodges-figgis

Enjoy and keep an eye out for it in bookstores near you in the coming months and year 🙂

See more about Hello Hinterland at:

www.hellohinterland.ie
www.instagram.com/holohanbooks

www.holohanbooks.ie

April 28, 2022 /

Repeal the 8th Campaign

These are a few posters I worked on for the Repeal the 8th campaign.

March 3, 2018 /

Wonder Illustration Exhibition Opening

Wonder Illustration Exhibition Opening Night

It was great to be part of the group illustration exhibition recently in Filmbase, Temple Bar in Dublin city centre. There was lots of excitement with putting up our framed art after a year of hard work in developing our illustration style leading to all the prep work involved preparing for an exhibition. There was a huge turn-out on the opening night, everyone agreed it was a great success.

The theme I chose was the wonder of the Tower of Babel – the story of how we all ended up speaking different languages. The concept shows the confusion that followed the collapse of the tower in the story where everyone began speaking different languages, with the tongue-tiedness that the language barrier brought. I featured some of the earliest forms of communication – ancient hieroglyhics and pictograms – in a bright and modern graphic way, using gouache colours that pop. I went on to show how language and communication has developed to today – where we use smiley faces and hand gestures to communicate which work through all languages. I enjoyed researching this theme, learning about the Rosetta stone and Egyptian hieroglyphics. There are some beautiful symbols used among all the languages and, although it would be simpler if we all spoke the one language, I would hate to see such individuality and beauty of each language’s unique symbols and form of communicating ever to become extinct.

One of the advantages of the location was that during the week, there was still a lot of visitors popping in as the artworks are displayed in the windows of Filmbase and attract plenty of passers-by and art lovers. Many of us had our own pop-up shops selling our giclee prints and greeting cards, which still continued to attract interest throughout the week.

My greeting cards and prints are available to purchase on Etsy at:

www.etsy.com/ie/shop/ClareLynchCreative

The prints can also be ordered at a number of sizes and formats at the link below:

https://www.artify.com.au/clarelynchcollective/

See more about the Wonder exhibition below:

www.wonder2017.ie

June 19, 2017 /

Wonder Illustration Exhibition

Wonder Exhibition 2017

Looking forward to the exhibition of the illustration course I have been attending over the last year. It’s on in Filmbase in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, opening 6.30pm on the 6th June and continuing until 10th June. It’s been great fun to be part of and I’ve met some really talented and friendly people along the way.

There’s a pop-up shop selling our giclee prints and greeting cards also. Come along and check out all the great work.

Poster artwork by Virginia Fiorini, graphic design by Fintan Wall.

May 31, 2017 /

Offset Dublin 2017

Offset Dublin 2017 – Highlights

Offset 2017 did not disappoint!

Dublin’s annual creative design event, hosted in Grand Canal dock, was full of talented speakers and designers eager to soak up inspiration and pick up some design tips and goodies. This year had a high focus on illustration, which was great to see. I am currently enrolled in a one-year illustration course, to develop my illustration style and bring more illustration in to my graphic design work, so it was great to hear about illustrators who are doing well in the industry. Here are a few of the talented designers and illustrators that caught my eye this year:

Marion Deuchars

Marion Deuchars is a Scottish award-winning illlustrator and hand letterer. She is well-known for her children’s book designs, an area of graphic design I would love to get in to in the future, so I found her talk inspiring. She also works with brand and advertising agencies. Her illustration style is playful and appeals to children and adults alike. See more of her work here.

The Project Twins

Great to see young Irish designers speaking at such a big event. This duo hail from Cork and have accomplished a lot already in their careers. The printmakers have spent time in a residency in the Facebook offices, which sounds like it was a lot of creative fun and have been featured in a huge amount of shows and exhibitions. Their work is simple but quirky; their bright and playful illustrations clearly deliver each project message with accuracy and bring a smile to your face. Purchase a print for your home or studio here.

And last, but certainly not least, advertising agency Chemistry

I love Chemistry’s ideas. Their work is the type of work I look at and wish I had done it myself! For the sad death of the All Blacks rugby player Jonah Lomu, they designed this beautiful image below of the New Zealand fern with one of it’s leaves fallen, which very simply and eloquently reflected the tragedy of New Zealand and the All Blacks loss of such an important player and Kiwi legend.

View this clip to hear more about it here.

Another strong campaign they spoke about was the ‘I want to get Cancer’ campaign. I must admit this was quite a controversial one. When I first saw it on a bus stop and then on a TV advert, I had mixed feelings. I understood the point but still didn’t like to see those words as they seemed like a negative affirmation at first glance and because of it’s in your face nature, it could pose insensitive to someone with a family member dealing with or having lost someone to cancer. However, the talk really brought more insight to this campaign. They asked half of the audience to stand up and said that by 2020, it is predicted that 1 in 2 of us will get cancer. The figure was quite striking and by separating the audience like that, it really hit home. They said they needed a message that really got attention and drove awareness with people that this isn’t something we should be turning a blind eye to, that we need to be more proactive rather than reactive with fighting it. Some of the team working on this campaign had actually fought cancer themselves, so they were actually in a strong position to speak up about it, after having gone through it personally. They spoke about how the campaign had been really effective and brought in a lot more calls and awareness, therefore it hit the objective of the brief very well and brought the desired outcome.

I also loved their LIDL Christmas advert, which was touching and well created with the story based around families and coming together to be there for eachother.

View it below:

Another striking image they created for an article on the history of the events at Chernobyl, using charred Russian Dolls was also very effective. I think they have the ability to deliver a message effectively in a way that touches on your heart strings and makes you think about the issue.

So that sums up my Offset 2017 highlights – there were many more talented designers speaking but I could only pick a few! Now to put that inspiration to good use…

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February 27, 2017 /

Noise Singapore 2016 Festival

MIX SOME NOISE 2016

Noise Singapore 2016 Festival

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit Mix Some Noise 2016 on a recent trip to Singapore.

Noise Singapore is an initiative of the National Arts Council to make noise about the young creative talent in Singapore, using many different platforms throughout the city to showcase the level of creativity. It’s aim is to support, inspire and encourage local young creatives in developing their relationship with the arts.

Have a look at some of the inspiring international art on display:

September 9, 2016 /

Offset Dublin 2016

Offset Dublin 2016 Highlights

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Each year, the Offset creative festival seems to be getting better. With more and more linked events created around it, it’s an inspiring festival that stands out on every creative’s calendar.

This year, among the range of great talent speaking, some highlights were:

Tado

This creative duo are very lovable and seem to work so well together. They are so inspired with their creative projects, they live eat and breathe the work when they are in the midst of each project. They create a massive selection of characters, all shapes and sizes, for children’s and adult projects including cartoons, branding and advertisements. You can’t help but fall in love with their enthusiastic fun personalities when presenting and all their playful creations. I like the interior graphics that they did for Sheffield Children’s Hospital, click below to see more of it…

Studio Dumbar

This Rotterdam-based branding company inspired the audience with some great projects. One that particularly stood out was the Alzheimer Netherland identity work. It was really interesting to see them show the process of a range of initial concepts that were discarded and their thought process with deciding this and then the chosen direction. The final identity is very cleverly created, whilst remaining very respectful to the Alzheimer community. It really demonstrated well the disease of alzheimers and how it can affect the memory and brain, with the sharpness and focus fading in and out, visually representing the condition accurately with great creative execution. View more about this campaign below…

Úna Burke

It’s inspiring to see a Irish fashion designer Úna Burke do so well at such a young age. The London-based designer’s work is intricate and detailed and her passion for what she does is immediately apparent. She has designed leather pieces for the Hunger Games, along with costume accessories for famous models and performers and worked with many of the greats. Her sculptural work is unique and highly creative, with a feeling of being from a previous era combined with a modern twist.

And finishing with the amazing Seb Lester

Seb Lester’s traditional hand-crafted calligraphy is a work of art, an art-form that is rare to see in modern times. It’s relaxing to watch the gentle swishes as his ink hits the paper and dances around from one point to another across the page to leave behind beautiful messages and artworks.

He talked about going back to his roots of what inspired him to follow a creative career path and advised any creatives in need of stimulation to do this. A quote he mentioned was ‘If you don’t ask, then you don’t get’ in relation to how he expressed interest in NASA in an interview online and he then got approached to design a logo for NASA space station which he would never have expected to become a reality! It’s a good motto to have when hesitating in anything in connection to following your dreams. His talk received a standing ovation at the end – a great roundup to 2016′ Offset event.

View a sample of Seb’s work and a video of him in action below…