Image Credit: Karen McKenzie
We’ve got a new souvenir idea for you, and it’s full of colour and packed with the little details that make SA, well, SA. We’re talking puzzles!
And no, not the tired old Eiffel Tower one gathering dust in the cupboard. These ones are breathing a fresh lick of colour into some of South Australia’s most iconic spots. And the best part? They’re proudly Australian-made (so they’re the perfect little present if you’re shopping local this Christmas, or a sweet memento for the rellies flying in for the silly season!)
The woman putting SA on the puzzle map is artist Karen McKenzie, who grew up in Mount Gambier and now calls Mailors Flat, near Warrnambool, home. It all started during the COVID lockdowns (when Netflix could only keep us entertained for so long), when Karen began drawing colouring-in pages to keep kids busy at home. Those drawings turned into paintings, and the paintings turned into puzzles.
Now, these aren’t just a photo chopped into a thousand bits of cardboard. Karen’s designs are bright, busy and full of little details, because she never paints a town she hasn’t visited. She grabs a local map, tours around everything there is to see and do, and snaps loads of reference photos before heading back to her desk.
“It helps me get an idea of where things are, so I know where to place them on the paper,” Karen says. “I try to include what visitors would experience when visiting each town.”
Mount Gambier, Robe, Beachport, Millicent, Penola, Naracoorte, Tanunda and Burra have all had the Karen treatment, along with a string of Murray River towns. Eudunda is on its way.
And now, Adelaide is piecing together its place in the collection.
Her newest design, Walking the Parade, Norwood, has a sweet story behind it. Karen’s mum lives nearby, so when Dillons Norwood Bookshop gave her puzzles a go and kept reordering, she painted a Parade puzzle just for them. It comes in three sizes, and Dillons is the only place you can buy it.
For Karen, though, it’s what happens after the puzzles leave the shop that means the most. Many are given as gifts for families to enjoy together on Christmas afternoon. Many also go to people going through cancer treatment, including her own dad, who did her puzzles throughout his treatment.
“It’s lovely to hear that, just for a few minutes, their mind can be occupied by something nice and simple like doing a puzzle,” she says.
When the family stayed at Cancer Council’s Greenhill Lodge during his final days, Karen’s puzzle manufacturers donated a range of her SA designs for other patients to enjoy.
And she’s far from finished. Karen’s been asked for designs further up the peninsula and over on Kangaroo Island, so there are plenty more SA spots on her list to paint and turn into puzzles.
So next time you’re stuck on what to get the rellies (or yourself), consider this your missing piece.
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