Illustrations on Glass

Designed and Made In Ireland

" Every Picture Tells A Story "

It's our passion for nature that inspires each and every piece - made to make You Smile.

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A Playful Take On Animal Behaviour

  • Coffee Morning

    "there's nothing quite like it"

    a cup of your favourite hot drink sitting outside in the garden

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  • Sitting Pretty

    "its a jungle out there"

    this pair of colourful lovebirds feel quite at home in their green paradise

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Free Shipping

Cost of Shipping

Ireland & NI - Free Shipping on orders €65 or more - €5 otherwise, delivery times 2-4 working days from dispatch

UK (excl. Channel Islands)  €9 & we cover the balance for P&P - delivery times 3-5 working days from dispatch - No additional Customs or Vat Duty  (Please provided contact number for recipient)

Europe  - 15 - delivery times 4 -7 working days from dispatch (we are based in Republic of Ireland-Europe) Some areas/Islands affected so contact us for details

USA & Canada - 20 - delivery times 4- 9 working days from dispatch

Prices are based on delivery to one address only (cannot be split).

Deliveries Home & Abroad

Currently we are dispatching all orders including personalised on time within 1-3 working days.  Please provide a full postal code and a contact number of the recipient for delivery purposesWe will send an email to confirm the day your order has left with a tracking number. 

All our orders are shipped with An Post & GLS couriers by recorded delivery in order to be tracked.  Couriers will send an email the day your parcel is out for delivery and if the time doesn't suit then GLS couriers now offer a free service called Flex delivery.

Please bear in mind that if a parcel is not accepted or collected, it will be returned to us and we will incur another charge from the courier. Contact number should be provided for the recipient where possible. 

Returns, exchanges or damaged items

If you find you have changed your mind and wish to return your purchase, then you should contact us within 14 days of receiving delivery in order to cancel.  Postage for returns will be paid by the customer and refunds will be made less delivery cost at the time of purchase, where applicable.  If you require an exchange, then you will have to cover the P&P costs on the shipping for the exchanged item, which will be advised in advance.  All goods should be returned in their original packaging in a resellable condition.

Please note, we do not exchange or except returns on items bought through one of our stockists.

Special Occasions & New Arrivals exchanges or returns cannot be made nor can changes be rectified where incorrect information has been provided at the time of placing the order. Therefore please ensure that you have all the details correct at the time of ordering, such as Fada’s etc.  If you think you have made an error, contact us as soon as possible. 

Website returns to: Black Hen Designs, Feigh, Lisacul, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, F45FX60.

Environmental

"Hi everyone. i would like to share a few of my thoughts on this subject with you.

Running a small business will always have some kind of impact on our enviroment and we are very aware of this .

The natural world is very important to me. Its what i draw obviously but more than that its what i love.

So what do we do to reduce any unesssesary harm to our surroundings? firstly packaging.

completely unavoidable, packaging is everywhere. changing from any plastic to cardboard was an easy first step for us. Waste cardboard is all used in our garden for compost or mulching around trees.

We print and frame everything here at home ourselves and make a quality product that is designed to last for many years. This reduces any wastage greatly.

Low energy lighting, geo thermal heating and efficient work practices all help in a small way.

Lastly, we are working with our suppliers where possible and encouraging them to make the same changes.

Thats all for now"

Andrew

Happy Customers

 Send us a photo of your black hen designs - we'd love to see their new home x

 

 

About

The Early Years

So, where do I begin. I grew up in the west of Ireland on a small dairy farm,  milking cows, feeding chickens and rearing turf as well as being creative in all things crafty.  It was something that came naturally to me and I knew I either wanted to become a farmer or an artist one day.  Andy on the other hand grew up in Surrey but spent many of his school summer holidays with his grandparents in the Isle of Wight. This was a place he felt at home, enjoying the freedom of the countryside and exploring his love of nature.  Fastforward some years later having met in London we decided to return to my native village Lisacul, Roscommon to live and work.

Escape To The Country

Andy carried on working in the building trade, whilst I returned to art college to complete my degree in fine art and pursue a career as a visual artist in oil painting.  It was always an ambition of mine to start a separate business, but I never knew just what is was going to be.  One day in late August 2010, Andy became laid up after suddenly suffering a slipped disc. Whilst he recovered, I suggested he try his hand at drawing some wildlife using a technique called 'reverse glass painting'. We experimented with lots of off cuts from framing material which we used for my art work and turned it into something lovely.    

The Start of A New Idea

After making a number of framed glass paintings we headed off to some local agricultural and craft shows to see what people thought of them.  To our delight we found that people loved them and so we went about creating a unique style of our own and gave ourselves a name inspired by our lovely black Orpington hens. 

New Challenges

A few years later we took a stand with the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland at Bloom in The Park and it was there we met the buyer from a chain of retail stores based in Ireland who wanted to stock our product and we are proud to say we stock all their stores to this day.

Afterwards we started attending a tradeshow called Showcase held in Dublin each year in the search of new stockists around Ireland.   When applying for a stand to showcase our products we put ourselves forward for selection to show in the coveted area in 'Design Ireland' which we achieved four years in a row of applying, receiving one of 'Best in Show' a number of times.  This included one curated by Eleanor Harpur, (Stylist and retail consultant) which was based on current interior design trends at the time but also on quality and timelessness.  Being passionate about being the best we can be, it was wonderful to be selected along with 13 other Irish designers and makers featuring in a collaboration between Brown Thomas and Design Ireland, as they launched an interior and gifting pop-up shop at their iconic Grafton Street store called 'Create'.  Other collaborations included working with Kilkenny Designs creative manager on a number of window displays in their flagship store in Dublin to promote our work and Meet The Maker in the Kildare Village. 
Over time we have featured in a number of articles such as The Irish Examiner, Giftfocus, Discover Ireland and more recently in 2022 we were delighted to be contacted by the Newstalk team for a wonderful radio interview with Pat Kenny called 'Keep it Local' (which can be listened back on podcast). 
As well as our very successful online store which we started all those years ago, we now supply over 80 shops including multiple stores and selected independent retail shops who are passionate about quality and great design throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, France and Germany. 
Vida Pain

P.S We would very much like to give a huge thank you to our Local Enterprise Board Office here in Roscommon for all the support and training they have given us over the years.  

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As Featured & Seen

Black Hen Designs was started in 2010 and is proud to stock selected premium stores across Ireland, UK, France, Germany and Italy with beautifully framed glass prints.