“wild, free and true to nature”

I am a self taught ceramic artist, gathering inspiration from nature and all of its creatures. The environment that surrounds me is integrated throughout my work. I strongly believe all created objects should be worthy of the physical space they occupy both practical, sculptural or whatever you need it to be.
One of the questions l am asked is why Hell Wench?

Hell Wench was a nickname given to me 30 years ago when l use to work as a bouncer in a nightclub. There were a group of young surfers (grommets) who would come to a particular nightclub l worked -they were rambunctious larrakins with manners so after a few words l would always let them in but sure enough within about 30 min they were always thrown out.

One day the cheekiest of the group told me it was his birthday and asked if he could tell me a story? He explained that everyone thinks he is drunk or high, due to his speech and the way he walks but explained in his story that one night he mouthed off to the wrong person and was beaten and then thrown on top of a car where the antenna went through his skull which damaged both his physical and verbal skills.

That night l told the other bouncers to let them be and 5hrs later they came out happy as can be but the young man who told me his story stopped and said thank-you. He went on to say that he had the best birthday ever and l was a Hell Wench…the expression on my face must have shown the confusion and he told me it means “wild, free and true to nature”

When starting my business, it seemed like the perfect name and ethos!