Clay, Canvas and a lost Emu Chick: How Wendy Binks Became One of Fremantle's Favourite Artists
When people search for a Fremantle artist with an unmistakably Australian style, Wendy Binks is the name that keeps coming up. And there are decades of good reasons why. Wendy's work is immediately recognisable, full of colour, personality and a streak of cheeky humour that feels distinctly Western Australian. Her characters and stories have been on stage in theatres spreading smiles, and she continues to take her audiences on an artistic journey of creation through guest speaking and live drawing classes. It is true that Wendy is known for her quirky emus, her bold native animal paintings and joyful Australian giftware, but maybe you didn't know her original canvas was clay.
A ceramic foundation that shaped everything
Wendy Binks studied Art & Design at Curtin University, majoring in ceramics. After graduating in 1982, she established herself in Fremantle, creating handmade, hand-painted pottery inspired by Australian wildlife and the natural environment. Those early pieces already carried the hallmarks of what would become the Stunned Emu Designs brand. Bold colour, expressive animals and a warmth that you can only feel when you hold something handmade.
Working in ceramics teaches you things that no other medium quite does. Every stage, from shaping, glazing, firing, and painting, demands patience, consistency and resilience. All qualities that have allowed Wendy to sustain and evolve a decades-long creative career, and you can still feel that ceramic background in her artwork today. There's a tactile quality to the brushwork. A sense of weight and movement. Her animals have genuine personality rather than polished perfection, and that's not accidental. It's the character of someone who has spent a lifetime making art with her hands.
Inspired by the outdoors, shaped by the land
Wendy's connection to the Australian landscape is the other great influence running through everything she makes.
Raised in Denmark, Western Australia, and now based in Fremantle, she has spent most of her life surrounded by coastal scenery, bushland and native wildlife. She has been drawing Australian animals since she could hold a pencil, and that instinct has never left her.
What keeps that instinct sharp is a life lived very much outdoors. Wendy swims every other day, pushes herself through regular boot camps, and is almost always planning her next hike. ABC Perth once described her as not only an artist and children's author but also a keen outdoors person and volunteer snake catcher... and that hasn't changed.
That physical energy feeds directly into the work. From cheeky emus and curious pelicans to frogs, fish and native birds, her paintings capture the feeling of wildlife, not just the observation. These aren't generic animals. They lean into the wind, dart through water and peer around corners with raised eyebrows. They feel alive because they are drawn by someone who is out there living alongside the natural world.
Building something lasting in Fremantle
Sustaining a full-time creative career takes more than talent. It takes adaptability, a willingness to evolve and the ability to stay true to your voice while the world around you changes.
Wendy has done all of that. Over the years her work has expanded from pottery into paintings, prints, books, textiles and giftware all while holding onto the handmade Australian identity that made people fall in love with it in the first place. Since 1995, her long-running presence at Fremantle Markets has brought her work directly to generations of locals and visitors.
Her most recognised creation remains Stripey, who turns 21 years young this year, from Where's Stripey? The award-winning children's book took out the WA Premier's Literary Award for Children's Books in 2005 and has since sold more than 180,000 copies. Stripey has gone on to appear in public murals and installations, including at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth. You can even get a Where's Stripey plush toy for super snuggly bedtimes.
Why her work keeps resonating
People searching for Australian wildlife art, or looking for a gift that encapsulates the Australian spirit, want something made in Australia by a real person with real energy behind it. If you get gifted a Wendy Binks souvenir, then lucky you! If you have the chance to snap up an original painting or one of her high-quality canvas prints, then you can be confident that it will be a conversation starter for years to come.
Because nobody knows the Australian landscape and its unique animals like Wendy. She's out there, dirt and all, with her coffee teabag, hiking, biking and bringing it back to the work that she creates. The humour, the movement, the quirkiness. It doesn't come from nowhere. It comes from a person who is fully alive in the world she paints.
That's why her work keeps finding new audiences across Australia and beyond and why it feels like nothing else out there.
Read more about Wendy HERE
