Not only is the ex-Deloraine farmer the only person to have exhibited at every Tasmanian Craft Fair since it began in 1981, he's also probably the last skin tanner in the state.

After moving to Hadspen in 1973, Mr Pearce learned the tricks of the tanning trade from an adult education tutor and soon began experimenting in the workshop.  

“I started off just tanning sheep skins and then people would ask me ‘could you make a vest coat?’,” Mr Pearce said.

“So I got a sewing machine to be able to sew them all together, and now I make beanie hats, woolly dusters - they’re very popular, inner soles to put on your shoes, they’re very popular.

“I make three different types of hats – I call them tractor hats, farmers like them and fishermen like them, but it’s all very interesting really, It’s given me a lot of satisfaction.”

Mr Pearce spends anywhere between five minutes to an hour on the trade every day, whether it be salting, washing and drying animal skins or creating clothing or rugs in the workshop.

Despite some four decades of experience, Mr Pearce says he is still picking up new skills.

“You can always learn.

“I’ve got my granddaughter, she’s helping me a lot and she gets in the internet and one thing and another, and she can pick up things for me.

“It gives me something to do, it’s kept me alive I think – you’ve got to have something to do.”

Exhibitor numbers have skyrocketed since about 30 stallholders attended the event’s first instalment, with more than 240 stalls confirmed for this year’s fair on November 4 to 7.

Fair director Tim Biggs said the fair’s key policy was that stallholders must be the creators of their stock.

“This year we’ve got about 70 of them who will be demonstrating how they make what they’re doing, from fishing rods to leather boots and chairs and all sorts of things,” Mr Biggs said.

“There’ll be another 40 who’ll have some sort of showing of how they make it, so it might be a looped video or samples showing the different stages of production.”

For more information on the fair visit www.tascraftfair.com.au