“the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

WOW! 2020 has totally not unfolded how I planned, and it seems in a blink of an eye l have been transported to October! There is one thing this year has taught me and that is to appreciate the little things, be patient and be kind. 

This year has seen our home, family (including pets) and my studio in Australia being packed up and move in a transpacific relocation to Vancouver, Canada. We spent the first few months acclimatising to our new surrounds, exploring, house hunting, socialising thinking we had plenty of time to organise, order and “smell the roses”. A new house with space for a studio was found in a very eclectic neighbourhood.  l started to explore options; kilns, wheels, artisan markets, clay suppliers etc, and then the brakes where violently set in action with the arrival of Covid-19!  The pandemic stalled my studio and Hell Wench progress for months -but did allow me creative time as we made our new house a home.

Thankfully l did manage to get my hands on some bags of clay before the pandemic hit and while l explored which wheel and kiln to buy (most suppliers here closed shop), l started to experiment with new clay bodies. As l was without a wheel, l embraced hand-building and slab work, embellishing pieces with local wildlife (crow/woodpecker/eagle/raccoon) and new designs (‘some days you need a coat and a crown’). Creating a new studio can be a bit daunting at the best of times but in a new country during a pandemic it felt like being on a roller coaster ride wearing a blindfold.  I loved my old studio and thought it would be an easy transition to a similar functional creative space. I found there was lots of extra administrative paperwork that created moments of such frustration, that l found myself pouring a vodka and soda and binging on Netflix while wondering what the heck l was doing. However, time marches on and l love what l do so l picked myself up and while l am still in the paperwork hell of permits, l found a kiln to rent (while l hunt for my own) which saw my first Canadian stack of clay pieces being bisque then glaze fired!  The recent arrival of a wheel means cups are being made again and my hands are in clay almost daily which is great for my mental and physical wellbeing.

Thank-you to everyone for your patience…

the next step is to ship out orders and update the website!

Please click on the portfolio tab to see images of my journey to date in 2020 which are updated with each new ramblings of a Hell Wench.