Susan Farrelly is an artist and educator with a strong interest in collaboration. She also runs painting and drawing, mixed media workshops with Abbey Art Studios, across Leinster.

Abbey Art Studios is an award-winning, Creative Business filled with fresh ideas for you. Since it launched in 2008, they have worked with over 1,000 individuals, schools and businesses providing outsourced art educational services including skills transfer and instruction in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, performance, printing and portfolio construction for third level. Effectively clients have an opportunity to design bespoke creative educational courses to suit their needs and budget.

She specialises in delivering functional & user-friendly art workshops that exceed clients expectations and performance. The style of tutoring aims to celebrate the points of everyone’s work, and develops paths for each individual to improve. Every artist is different, and therefore every artwork is different too.

Previous clients include The National Gallery of Ireland, James Joyce Centre, Dublin Writers Museum, Louth County Libraries, Monaghan County Council, Spinal Injuries Ireland, Louth disAbility, Louth County Council, Create Louth, Louth Leader Partnership.

Susan Farrelly is an accomplished artist and educator known for her collaborative and site-specific projects that engage participants with hands on creative experiences. She works with various materials and often invites public participation in her projects.

Highlight projects for 2024 include the Brigid 1500 Festival. Susan was one the lead artists on the project which engaged over 24 community groups across Louth to create a number of artworks for public display that explored aspects of St Brigid. As a key contributor to the project team her focus was to ensure the diversity and richness of the project reached a broad spectrum of our community. She engaged Ardee Active Retirement, Ashton Village Autism specific Unit, Malta Connect Drogheda, Cooley Connect, Arches Club Dundalk & members of the Deaf Community through Irish Sign Language (ISL). Each group contributed to the final pieces that were fabricated digitally by laser cutting  at the Creative Spark Facility.

One notable project is “The Book Tree” A Junior Library Wall Art Installation at the Drogheda Branch Library. During this 7 month mini residency, she coordinated multiple artworks created by a team of dedicated little artists aimed at enhancing the junior library’s environment, emphasizing nature, community involvement, joy of reading and creative expression​.

Another significant ongoing project is “Spinal Art” which was part of a programme focusing on creativity and wellness with Spinal Injuries Ireland. This initiative included various art forms, such as painting, drawing, and journaling, highlighting the positive impact of creative practices on wellbeing rehabilitating after a Spinal Injury ​. The Spinal Art programme is kindly supported by Rethink Ireland fund

Additionally, Susan’s collaborative film work “Walking the Labyrinth” explores themes of identity and reflection. This project is part of her broader exploration of ritual and the symbolic use of space in her art​. If you are interested in reading more, check the News page for updates on how the film was received by audiences in the UK and Ireland.