NATURE OF CREATIVITY

When Linda Keough was a child she spent hours making little shoebox houses. She fondly remembers the way she would carefully craft a series of miniature rooms, adding furniture and fixtures to bring the tiny homes to life.

Fast forward to the present day and Keough still has a fascination with beautiful rooms, which she brings to life through her work as a painter.

Keough’s solo exhibition of new works, on show at Hobart’s Handmark Gallery until November 11, features more than a dozen works depicting animals like deer, hares and cows in refined and beautiful domestic settings, lounging on chesterfield couches and standing on tables in elegant rooms.

Keough explores the human/natural world connection and the imbalance between the two. She enjoys painting animals traditionally considered pests. “I’m not interested in making some sort of profound statement in my work,’’ the Longfordbased artist says. “It’s more about provoking the viewer to adopt alternate thinking, just for a moment, while they look at the work and maybe even reconsider the status of the stag or deer or hare in a way that juxtaposes the animal in an unrealistic space. It’s unsettling to me that the animal world is seen as inferior. That’s what inspires me to paint.”

Keough loved drawing as a child and dabbled in various artistic pursuits over the years, including designing and making dance costumes in Sydney, but didn’t pursue an active career in art until she was 35.

“I think it was just the right time,’’ says the self-taught artist who has been a Glover Prize finalist twice and won the Gold Coast Border Art Prize in 2009. My three children were older … it was always something that I’d wanted to pursue from childhood, really. I’d always been one for making my own clothing. And when I was in Sydney I made dance costumes, so my artistic expression has always come out in one form or another.”

She says Tasmania is a great place to make art, with Tasmanian devils and tigers appearing in some of her works.

Keough’s artistic family moved from New Zealand to Sydney when she was 16 so her father could pursue his musical career, and then to Queensland. Keough settled in Tasmania eight years ago and works full-time as an artist in historic converted stables. “Dad was a jazz musician, he was a brilliant trumpeter who represented Australia overseas, and Mum was a stage actress. Dad [who died six years ago] was my absolute idol. Tasmania is so much like where we lived in New Zealand. I love Tasmania, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It really lends itself to the work that I do.”

See Linda Keough’s exhibition of new work at Handmark Gallery in Hobart until November 11. Open daily from 10am. handmark.com.au

LITTLE LOTUS CAFE

45-47 Victoria St, Hobart

Open Monday-Saturday, 7.30am–3.30pm

It’s a chilly Hobart spring morning so I am thrilled to have nabbed a spot at the sundrenched window seat at Little Lotus Cafe, cup of lemon grass and ginger tea in hand. Located on Victoria St in the CBD, I can immediately recognise why countless people over the past few months have recommended I try this place. The exterior is unassuming and the interior not particularly trendy, but there is an undeniable sense of warmth and peacefulness that permeates the venue.

Menus are pre-set on each table and service is friendly but low fuss with orders made at the counter. I order the Smashed avocado on toasted sourdough and take up the option to add two poached eggs. It’s served with herb crusted tomato, roasted king oyster mushrooms, enoki and pea tendrils and almond fetta. I’m always a bit sceptical of food masquerading as something it isn’t so I take a cautious bite of the almond “fetta” but it is actually quite pleasant (nothing like real fetta but is tasty nonetheless).

Running my eyes over the menu there is a focus on vegies and fresh fruit with minimal dairy and no meat. I’m personally not vegan or vegetarian but think we can all acknowledge that most of us could do with eating a little less animal products and more plants so I welcome the opportunity to eat this way.

Nourishing looking options include homemade granola with activated almonds, pumpkin, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, Four Leaf oats, banana and blueberries served with warm almond milk ($14) or a vegan breakfast platter with scrambled tofu, herb-crusted tomato, roasted oyster king mushrooms, enoki and housemade baked beans ($22). My avocado on toast is piled withaccoutrements and topped with two perfect poachies. My kind of breakfast dish.

I return next day for lunch and order the soup of the day ($14). Today it’s a Mexicanstyle bean soup that comes with buttered sourdough, corn chips and guacamole. It is warm and tomatoey with the slightest hint of spice and topped with a generous dollop of guacamole. My only complaint is that as the corn chips are served on top of the soup, they are soggy by the time they arrive at the table but the toast that is served on the side provides the crunch I am after.

My colleague orders the roasted pumpkin salad served with red oak leaf lettuce, avocado, sprouted chickpeas, wholegrain buckwheat groats, activated seeds, dehydrated kale and white bean dip ($14). It arrives artfully arranged with chunks of vibrant roast pumpkin and large ribbons of crispy kale. I am a fan of a bulked out salad that is a meal in itself and this definitely fits the bill.

Drinks-wise there is Ludwig The Merchant Coffee and Yarra Valley organic loose leaf teas along with Prana or Dandy Chai, Mork Hot chocolate and turmeric and matcha lattes. There is cow’s milk along with lactose-free, almond, soy and oat milk to choose from. The smoothie menu is particularly impressive with five different options to choose from all crammed with fresh fruit or veg and other healthy ingredients like chia seeds, nut butter coconut water, raw cacao and hemp seeds.

I order the Banana Nut (all smoothies $10), which is a mix of banana, nut butter, date, hemp seeds, chia seeds, oat milk and vanilla spice. It tastes like banana ice-cream and I slurp it down feeling more virtuous with each sip.

While the majority of the menu is vegan, there are some dishes that are an exception like the cheese and pickle sourdough toastie with Coal River blue, Wicked brie, cheddar cheese and kombucha pickled cheddar ($12). I appreciate the fact that while the menu definitely has a focus on minimal animal products, there is a gentle and non-militant approach which means that cheese pops up sometimes and you can still order cow’s milk with your coffee.

In the glass cabinet at the counter there is an array of decadent looking raw treats. I eye off a rice crispy-like slice that is covered in a layer of chocolate but manage to hold strong on the will power. There are also pre-made sandwiches and bagels with vibrant fillings to grab for lunch on the go.

While the front room is cosy, there is also a large room at the back with plenty of tables,

Expect the unexpected at two new accommodation pods in waterfront bushland at Quarantine Bay on North Bruny Island

As we roll off the Bruny ferry and head for Quarantine Bay, also on the north island, I imagine our accommodation as an all-white affair dotted with affirmation cards and supplied with various virtuous vegan snacks.

Wending our way down to the waterfront along a quiet road edged with tall eucalypts and wattle in bloom, the name of our destination keeps conjuring a slice of new-age Byron Bay on Bruny.

When we arrive at Free Spirit Pods, we open our front door to a riot of colour and fun. Think electric peacock kitchen tiles and bedhead, an orange Italian leather lounge draped with an animal-skin print behind boldly printed cushions. Yellow daffodils burst forth from a vase on the front deck.

By the time I take in the multi-coloured bedcover, where two hand-knitted Bananas in Pyjamas toys lie against plump pillows, I don’t know whether I’m B2 or B1, but I do note the chocolates sitting in tiny patterned bowls between their stripy pant legs. When we spy a tin of chocolate-coated grasshoppers on a narrow set of kitchen shelves, we laugh.

Well, this is all a surprise, we muse over a few chewy lollies procured from a jar next to the crickets.

Another surprise greets us when we step out on the deck: a Bennett’s wallaby with joey in pouch just below, who returns before dusk with friends and family to nibble on compressed grass pellets supplied by the owners, which we pour into a dish for them.

Beyond that awaits another treat: gloriously tranquil Quarantine Bay.

Our self-contained cabin is Blue Wren, one of two Free Spirit Pods created from modular, prefabricated EcoShelta buildings designed by architect Stephen Sainsbury.

Made in Tasmania, they are terrific little contemporary dwellings that appear to tick all the right environmental boxes. Here at Free Spirit Pods, they’ve been finished with a range of local timbers, including flooring of Tasmanian oak and a kitchen in celery-top pine, blackwood and myrtle by Bruny cabinetmaker Bernd Farasin.

Layered with the owner’s wacky trimmings and, voila, here we are in a quirky paradise.

It turns out there is a bit of Byron Bay about the place. Back in the 1970s, owner/operator Garry Deutsher founded the renowned Music Farm, in the Byron Bay hinterland at Coorabell, where he hosted many of the country’s biggest recording artists, including The Angels, Mondo Rock, Midnight Oil, Mi-Sex and Cold Chisel.

“Back in those days it was every man for himself,” Garry says with a chuckle, when I ask what those years taught him about hospitality. “It was never an ego thing, though. I saw some amazing jam sessions with 3-4 bands.”

The new Tasmanian resident, originally from Melbourne, lives on the 3.2ha site with his partner Chris Varney Clark in a home configured from four EcoSheltas.

The couple is on hand for guest needs but leave you alone otherwise to enjoy the peace and quiet.

All we need is a hand carrying one of the double kayaks down to the water’s edge. Paddling around the beautiful sheltered bay for two hours, I feel calm, content and completely in love with Bruny Island.

Clearly, I don’t need the questionable consolation of an all-white pod to soothe my soul.

That has happened out on the water. What I really feel like now is that KitKat nestled at B1’s feet.

Eating and drinking on North Bruny Dining options are limited on Bruny Island, so plan to self-cater. If you do plan to roam rather than retreat, we recommend these eateries, all within a 20-minute drive or so. Most are daytime only.

Jetty Cafe, Dennes Point Locals love it. Book for fish and chips on Friday night. 6260 6245 Get Shucked Oyster Bar, Great Bay Worth stopping in even for a modest mixed halfdozen of these locally harvested delights. Bruny Island Cheese Co, Great Bay

Beer and cheese in the shade on a sunny day is the go here. We visit for woodfired pizza, but it’s not happening, so we settle for a toastie affair. Luckily the cheese is excellent.

The author was a guest of Free Spirit Pods