A  JACKET knitted from dog fur and a matching hat and bag, donned to take the dog out for a walk?

It’s not as daft as it may sound, especially for Fremantle artist and spinner Debra Corbett, who’s been turning out some very stylish pieces of apparel thanks to her hirsuite pooch.

The self-taught artist had been confining her skills to paint and canvas—then she saw and felt the soft, woolly clippings from the coat of her apricot-red labradoodle pup, Dougall (like poodles, from which they’re cross-bred with labradors, the breed grows wool, not hair, and it’s free of ‘dog smell’).

“I didn’t want to throw it away,” Corbett says.

“I had an old spinning wheel as decoration and taught myself to spin.”

Spinning led to knitting, lots of it, and pretty soon painting was relegated: “I became addicted…when I’m not spinning I’m knitting,” Corbett admits.

There are around seven spinning wheels and a murderous-looking antique machine that prepares the wool for spinning, scattered around her studio.

• Deb Corbett and Dougall. Photo by Matthew Dwyer

These days she spins, knits and felts a variety of textiles including angora, alpaca, wool, silk and bamboo, all in the earthy natural colours they come with, blending different materials for dramatic contrasts.

Corbett’s art appears to be borne out of necessity; it was only after she failed to find a seascape that wasn’t all pretty blues and sunshine that she took up a paint brush in 2000.

“I wanted a stormy winter scene and couldn’t find one.”

The second time she exhibited she won a “highly commended” from the judges: “And it sold, so I though I would do this.”

Corbett has staged a number of joint and solo exhibitions, including in Fremantle.

And along the way she landed her dream, moving from a modern home in Ocean Reef to the national and state heritage-listed Lenaville, George Seddon’s former home, at the corner of High and Ord Streets.
“After my first Fremantle exhibition I thought ‘I have to live here’.”

Built for Fremantle’s first chief warder Henry Blinco, the property includes an 1850s cottage, which makes a great studio/shop, Corbett says.

Strictly speaking it’s open Thursday to Saturday 11am–4pm, “but, if I’m home I’m open,” Corbett says.

by JENNY D’ANGER