Adelle Hickey is an Irish designer, printmaker and DCCI member who runs her business, Hearts of Ireland, from her studio in Dublin.

Adelle has had a successful career in the fashion and film industries. Her research work in Design History and Material Culture has inspired her unique collection of cards, notebooks and prints.

Her work embraces centuries of Irish visual culture – archaeology, mythology, needlework, Celtic symbols, wildlife and flowers.

What’s a typical day in the studio like for you?

A typical day starts off with communications, checking emails and messages.

Printing usually starts at 10am. The hand-carved blocks, trays and rollers need to be clean, the colour inks required for the order are mixed. Orders are usually a mixture of hand-printed cards and prints. For the prints, the card used is cut to size and a frame is used for centring the design. Each printed design takes about two hours to dry, so the drying rack is carefully stacked.

Depending on the orders, the printing might be done in two stages. Afternoons/evenings are kept for packaging and correspondance.