A craft paradise... Hobart's Salamanca Market.Picture: Tasmanian Tourism
Art seems to take a back seat to an intriguing variety of weaving, clothing, leatherwear, jewellery, glassware and magnificent bespoke wood pieces which all remain beautiful while having a practical and working purpose.
Some of the mirrors and artwood frames were stunning but what I really wanted was the 40kg mosaic owl on a tree branch, all made from tiles. At $1,900, it was a little outside my pocket (and decor) but I could see the value.
For those who appreciate one-off, hand-crafted work, that personal piece of jewellery awaits you about 6km outside Deloraine at McLachlan's Studio.
Mary and Hugh McLachlan hand make gold, silver and gemstone jewellery that is never exactly the same, but stunning in its variety and quality.
There is no production line here. The displays will leave women breathless and the benchtops and specialty tools will intrigue "shed" boys like me.
You could spend from $100 up to $15,000 here and still be exclusive.
While in the territory of exclusive, for a 24-hour treat there is little to compare to nearby Peppers Calstock.
Once a grand old mansion built in the 1850s with the stud racehorse stables still down the back, it is now a gracious hotel, restored to the style and richness of its time with a French-influenced restaurant, contemporary food and wine.
The ceilings go on up forever and the views are about 80ha of lush green countryside - perfect for that lazy stroll before dinner or the bracing morning walk. You have to pinch yourself to make sure you're not in a movie set and someone will suddenly take it all away.
Travelling east to Launceston, try to get to Luck's restaurant for lunch, or keep it in mind for dinner.
Luck's was once a butcher shop but is now home to about 350 wines listed on 30 pages, with 120 names available by the glass. The food is all so wonderful that everybody covets their neighbour's plate.
Launceston is home to the Design Centre of Tasmania, where wood design and craftsmanship seem to reign in furniture from about 60 designers using only Tasmanian timber.
The permanent furniture exhibition dominates, but is supported by ceramics, glassware, pottery and textiles.
This centre is the only not-for-profit organisation that has showcased the state's design industry to the world for over 30 years.
This city of over 100,000 people is proud of its history and is reluctant to let it go. Even its 140-year-old railyard and workshops have remained as part of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
The gallery specialises in colonial and contemporary art, Aboriginal, Pacific and Asian collections. Combined with the museum pieces - old machinery, cars, planes - even a dinosaur skeleton - it defines Tasmania's history and people in a purpose-built centre declared in 1895.
Transformation of nearby Launceston Railway Workshops was a more recent development, with the star attraction for me - the blacksmith's and workshop - closing as a workplace only in 1994. Over 100 people worked in the smithy's in its heyday.
Our guide, acting manager Craig Williams, described it as a source of innovation. "If you couldn't get it made elsewhere, you came to the workshops."
It does, however, raise the question of "How do you clean up a blacksmith's shop?". As well as they did, it still smells like one, which is part of the attraction.
Everywhere in this endearing old city seems touched by history.
Our hotel for the night, Hatherley House, perched on a hill, goes back to 1830 but has been carefully restored into four suites that are a curious combination of ye olde style and mod cons such as flat screen TV with DVD, high-speed internet and sound equipment.
Back down the hill, an old flour mill about the same age houses "the" restaurant in town - Stillwater.
Apart from the superb food, Stillwater is proud of its wine list and part owner Kim Seagram will happily take you through the menu and show you where the wine rests in the ancient granary.
Sensory saturation was setting in about here but I got a second wind once we reached Hobart, with its convict history, marine lifestyle, innovative food and, of course, more art and craft galleries with a difference.
Salamanca Place and the waterfront showcases much of Hobart's culture.
Each Saturday the place is packed with food, wine, produce, craft of all types, old wares, new wares and that other broad category - "stuff" that make up the world famous Salamanca Market, surrounded by nooks and alleyways with more food and stuff.
The most impressive of these was the Wursthaus Kitchen, probably the best-stocked delicatessen and wine shop in Tasmania, where you just can't leave without buying something. It's compulsive.
Nearby Bett Gallery has been established for 20 years and specialises in Tasmanian contemporary paintings and Aboriginal art for the higher end of the market, with a stable of about 20 artists.
Our guide Emma best summed up Tasmania's great attraction for artists.
"It's the landscape and the light, plus the lifestyle. Artists can stay here and send their work out to the world unlike, perhaps, actors. And there is a great level of mutual support."
Back in Salamanca Place, Handmark Gallery, established in 1980, concentrates on arts and craft of almost every nature. But this is no op shop.
Some of Handmark's works are represented in national and international galleries, in government and private collections.
Taking the whole art, craft, gallery and exhibition scene several quantum leaps, Salamanca Arts Centre, housed in seven 19th century sandstone warehouses along Salamanca Place, on three levels, "creates arts development opportunities", says Director Rosemary Miller.
The centre is virtually a nursery through to finishing school for any form of artistic expression, from wood turning, glass blowing, textiles, prints and paintings, to writers and film-makers.
Exhibitions change regularly all along the second level, while the top level houses a honeycomb of studios for up-and-coming performers, craftspeople and artists, such as Tricky Walsh, whose work she describes as "Alice in Wonderland, but its evolving".
Ping Chen's art "confuses space" she says and she sent an exhibition to China at the end of last year.
The Arts Centre does get some federal government help but is supported by the retail level on the ground floor, retail subscriptions, and its exhibitions and sales.
"The centre grows and develops almost by itself and you can really feel the great depth of the arts here," Ms Miller said.
A visit to the centre is not complete without seeing the tiny Peacock Theatre, with a cliff face incorporated into the stage. The effect is surreal and a work of art of its own.
It's easy to believe the Hobart waterfront is a converted warehouse village. Even our hotel was once the IXL jam factory but is now the Henry Jones Art Hotel, with 50 first class suites and a fine restaurant. (Henry once owned these warehouses and many others.)
This hotel opened in 2004 and has already won multiple tourism, architectural and restaurant awards.
With such a name, there is naturally a small but quality gallery and nearby, the best Aboriginal art and craft I have seen.
If you thought it was basically dot, line and animal themes, then The Art Mob gallery will give you a new perspective. Owner Cameron Ross is a virtual encyclopedia of Aboriginal art and can show you things that will amaze.
There are other places that pull together much of Tasmania's pride and place in the world, and thankfully they are wineries. But that's in another story.
IF YOU GO:
Visit: http://www.discovertasmania.com/home/index.cfm.
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