In May 2022 I started posting profiles of artists, crafters and writers who depicted poultry in their work. Some of those folks were inspired by the imagery of birds, while others had a flock of their own and wanted to share their love of chickens.
I’m neither artistic or particularly crafty, but I can appreciate those who make things with their hands from ideas in their heads.
This is the 36th post in the series ‘When Art Meets Chickens’.
My name is Jules, a watercolour artist living in East Yorkshire, U.K. I only started keeping chickens seven years ago and only began painting four years ago and both things have changed my life.
I was brought up on my parents’ smallholding with all sorts of animals, so my love for the outdoors and looking after animals came from helping my mum and dad, seeing the fun and happy times but also the hard work and sadness that sometimes comes with it.
After leaving home I always had a cat, always a rescue cat – the type that love you so much but they try not to show it all the time to keep you wanting more. Cats can be like that.
I then spent 35 years of my working life in the corporate world with no time for hobbies, just flying around the world getting stuff done. I loved my job as a Project Manager – it really suited my personality. I suppose it was being as creative as you can be in an office environment. Working long hours and travelling with work made it impossible to have hens, something I always had a longing for in the back of my mind.
In 2019, my husband bought me my first chicken coop for my birthday. I had always talked about having chickens but didn’t think he was really listening. You know how they agree but look at you as if you are a little nuts? So that is when my real love of everything chicken related got going, no longer a dream, I was living my dream.
I got my first hens in May of that year, all five of them rescued from a caged background. They looked so awful it was heartbreaking but it turned into a love affair that will never leave me. I now feel that every hen or cockerel that is saved should be named and loved, it’s the least we can do.
So how does this link with being an artist?
As some of you may know rescue hens can come with all sorts of issues and sometimes their past catches up with them and they cannot survive the world. Every time I lost one it was so sad and I never wanted any one of their little souls to be forgotten, so I started to create air dried clay hearts with their names on, imprinted with flowers which I hung in the pear tree in their chicken run.
In 2022, my husband thought I might be a little crafty and once again unsure what to get me for my birthday bought me some watercolour paints and another love was found.
Inspired by my hens I started to paint them, each one with their different personalities Mary and Joan were my first and it went from sitting with them, observing their behaviour, sketching and painting. My two new loves together: painting and hens.
Until that moment, I had never painted a single thing in my life – not encouraged and so didn’t pursue it, why would I? At school I did art but I was not encouraged to do so and didn’t pursue it.
My first ever paintings were of my girls and I do think my love for them filled the paintings, which I also think is what makes them so extra special.
From that moment I’ve tried to do something linked to being creative daily, be that sketching painting or walking and absorbing myself in nature. I do spend a lot of time with my hens, from the moment they get up until the moment they go to bed they are around the garden, visiting my studio and generally with me, being so inquisitive.
It has been said that my ability to paint hens and cockerels is due to the time I spend with them, it helps me understand them and having a love for them comes out in my paintings. Their distinctive look, as we know no two hens ever look the same even if they are a similar colour, they are all different, from feather tones, tail shapes and obviously the fingerprint of a chicken is its comb and not to forget their amazing personalities, I love to capture that cheeky glint in their eyes – it’s where they keep their little soul.
My world is completely different from where it was four years ago. I have left the corporate world and I am now a full-time artist working in watercolour and I have branched out to include all pets and nature not just chickens but my first love and go to is chickens.
I love to do commissioned portraits and it is amazing how many beautiful hens and cockerels I have done but I also do other animals. The sad thing is most of them have already passed on when I paint them but it is a wonderful reminder to their caregiver of them in happier times. The ability to paint has opened so many doors and given me opportunities to meet different people and also grow a wonderful community on Facebook where a great deal of my followers are chicken lovers.
I have had such wonderful feedback, such as: ”She is an artist I admire for her sensitive and accurate portrayal of the animals she draws and paints.” This comment meant so much with me being such a new artist.
For the last three years, I have supported an FPC Poultry Rescue (UK) by painting hens and cockerels in watercolours, free of charge and converting them into calendars to raise funds for them. This charity does such a lot of hard work not just rescuing hens from farms but also capturing and rehoming dumped cockerels, which is a constant issue in the UK as folks breed and create an unwanted number of cockerels in their search for fancy hens.
I’ve also painted and created cards for a local animal sanctuary who take on dumped and abused farm animals. There are so many wonderful charities out there helping but the volume of animals in need of help is sad, so anything I can do to help by raising funds means a lot to me.
I can definitely see a change in my art as I have grown as an artist as I experiment and understand the medium of watercolour with each brushstroke. I also have began to turn my two dimensional images into 3D as I play with clay and sculpt in my studio after obtaining a kiln last year. I’m so excited for this new journey for 2026.
The moral of my little story is never give up on a dream, even if you don’t quite know what that dream is yet, it will come to you. Life is funny that way.
Thanks to Jules Graves for sharing her story and art, used with permission.
“Celebrating the intersection of creativity and chickens.”
Bitchin' Chickens 
So enjoyable to read your story!
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