Textile Art and Craft on Kangaroo Island

Quite a few businesses close for the Winter on Kangaroo Island, so we were limited in our choice. We visited three galleries, however, with a good range of local textile work.

Granny Sterling's in Penneshaw had, amongst other things, a great range of knitted hats, like this one from their website - really inspiring.

The Kangaroo Island Gallery in Murray St Kingscote displays and sells work of Kangaroo Island Artists. I didn't take photos there, but they had a interesting textiles amongst their work, the most exciting of which, for me, were a great collection of felted cloche hats by Jean Schaefer, using Kangaroo Island grown and spun wool, and some felt and silk scarves by Patricia Verwaal.

The other attraction for stitchers in Kingscote is Heather's Designs, operating from The Bay Window in Dauncey Street. Her designs and kits - including the birds of Australia series which I admire a lot are available here. 

We visited the Kangaroo Island Artworks Gallery at Baudin Beach several times. This gallery is a cooperative of artists from the mainland as well as KI. It had a really good range of art and craft work, including textiles. I asked for, and received, permission to photograph some of the textile work on display, including more by Patricia Verwaal.

I really, really liked Patricia's work. She used to work with large scale welded metal, but now does some  fibre work. This amazing felted giraffe is hers as are the beautifully soft and textured shawls below. She has a terrific eye for colour - inspiring.

Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of the creators of the other textile work in the gallery. There is clearly a thriving community of artists on the island - well worth following up when lucky enough to visit.