Sometimes artists get a bad press. They are occasionally depicted as narcissistic types obsessed with their own ideas and neurotic about reviews and, of course, sales. But the
Art Auction held by HIP in December proved all that to be utter nonsense. In fact, the generosity of local artists in their willingness to donate for free was quite staggering. The Auction raised more than £5k. A sum that is a considerable boost to the paper for 2022. A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to absolutely everyone involved.

Curiously, on the day itself, the omens were not good. In the afternoon a storm hit the town and brought such heavy rain and wind that many of us felt no one would brave such elements just for pretty pictures. (On top of that, 7 December was also the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour air raid – not really relevant, but hardly an encouraging sign.) But, amazingly, the weather calmed by late afternoon and the people of Hastings came in search of artistic treasure in great numbers.

Kate and Richard in action

HIP would like to take this opportunity to thank a couple of individuals by name. Dave, the proprietor of ‘The Horse and Groom’ in Mercatoria, was an absolute star: he let us wander in and out of the back room in the days before the auction as we saw fit and really could not have been more helpful. Although at one point on the day of the auction, the pub had to bolt its door to keep the wind at bay. Carrying large paintings from car to pub in the afternoon risked the artwork being flung into the wild air. Another hero of the artistic hour was Richard Fryer, local writer, seafarer and brilliant furniture maker who also, it turned out, was a great auctioneer. He was ably assisted by the multi-talented Kate Tym who engaged the audience with wit and not a little good-humoured verbal prodding.

Pondering the paintwork

The range of art on show was amazing. The auction had everything, from the brilliant to the baffling or bizarre and all stations in between. There were all sorts of paintings from the small and intricate to the vast. There were numerous artists in this field, and among them were Oska Lappin, Katherine Reekie, Russell Baker, Ian Barraclough, James Mackinnon, Tom Banks, Daisy Clarke, Stewart Walton, Robin Holtom, Martin Bradshaw, Danny Mooney, Claudia de Grandi and many, many more. Photography included Ian O’Leary, John Coles, Alex Brattell, Alexandra Vacaroiu, Patricia Webb and Sonny Levitt. Print and mixed media was very lively, including works from Alan Rankle and Laetitia Yhap, Hazel Brook and Peter Quinell but also more pop-punky pieces from Carrie Warrior, Georgie Wheeler, Chris Milton and Jude Montague. Ben Eine’s street art came courtesy of Steph at ‘Stella Dore’ and many thanks to her for that. In what might be called the conceptual category we had the wonderfully intriguing Becky Beasley. Adrienne Hunter’s piece seemed to dynamically straddle drawing and painting. There was also a strong showing in ceramics, from Mudworks, Annabel Faraday, Bernard McGuigan, Liz Emtage and Jane Loftin. We even had a charming cartoon by the late, great Martin Honeysett. Local shops were also generous in donating prizes for the raffle, and Catriona Lafferty was heroic in jumping in, last-minute, to run it. 

In total, more than fifty artists contributed and apologies to those not mentioned due to lack of space. Thanks also to the unsung heroes who did the lugging in the rain and the fixing to the walls. Including Claire-Marie Moore and our own Fiona McGarry, Rod Webb, Kent Barker, Suzie McFie and Ben Cornwell. Overall, as they say in very silly circles, everyone was a winner. 

• See the full list of works for sale here

As everyone knows, the art and popular culture market is a fickle one. Often seeming irrational. Why, for example, is George Formby’s banjo-ukelele worth more than Noel Gallagher’s hand-written lyric book? Is ‘Wonderwall’ a lesser achievement than ‘I’m leaning on a Lamp-post?’ Who knows? Obviously, it is very hard to know what determines the value of things. Which is, of course, why auctions are so fascinating and indeed unpredictable. 

On the evening of December 7 this newspaper is holding an Art Auction, at the suitably chic ‘Cactus Hound’ in St Leonards, to raise funds to keep HIP alive. And maybe kicking. (Big thanks to the Cactus – which arguably has some of the best cocktails in St Leonards on Sea) Hastings and St Leonards are brimming with creatives and they have been incredibly generous in offering work for the event. As a result, the auction will feature an exceptionally diverse range of work. In addition to paintings, there will be prints, photo-graphs, drawings, ceramics and sculpture. The auction will have ‘guide prices’ set for each piece, but monetary outcomes are, inevitably, hard to call.

Some of the artists on show are well established names in the Hastings art world. Laetitia Yhap, for example – who has work in the Tate Collection – has a piece up for offer. Her artwork has now become identified with the town; it is figurative in approach, with Hastings fisherfolk and beach-life at its heart. Alan Rankle is another of the town’s leading artistic lights and he is also donating. John Cole is a local photographer who has produced iconic images of world figures, such as Mohammad Ali, and a figure of similar stature appears in the auction. Chris Milton has donated a print that highlights his gift for putting down a searing, and yet somehow witty, line. His piece ‘Pinocchio Pope’ has already generated interest.

Most of the artists on show have, at some point, been featured in HIP. Daisy Clarke and Tom Banks for example have been highlighted recently: both are intriguing painters whose reputations are definitely on the upward trajectory. Russell Baker, from Kino, is a Slade trained and renowned printmaker, and a wonderful painter.  Also on show will be other well established artists, such as Bernard McGuigan and Claudia de Grandi. Martin Bradshaw – who is currently on show at the Hastings Arts Forum – is also donating. There are many more who could be mentioned. Overall, it is an interestingly eclectic mix and it will be intriguing to see how the auction unfolds. It should be a fun evening.

The paper has always sought to support the local art scene, whether it be traditional graphic work, film festivals, rock bands, people’s operas, theatre or even poetry brothels. We all know that most artists are not exactly rolling in cash but, to be honest, the paper has been overwhelmed with the willingness of the bohemian community to donate. 

In many ways, the value of art is not just about the price of it. That would be crass. But, having said that, and putting all subtlety to one side for a moment, this auction may well offer up some smart buys to the discerning eye. 

Imagine a magical world without men. A world in which mysterious female figures commune with birds. Welcome to the odd world of the successful local artist Daisy Clarke. Her painted scenes hover between the serene, the sinister and the surreal. 

Daisy was born in Peckham but for several years now she has lived in St Leonards. In some ways, however, her artistic imagination is not rooted in a particular post code. Her work seems to be about creating other worlds: magical gardens not in our time frame and not necessarily welcoming. Looking at the works, one feels almost like a voyeur, peeping at someone else’s intimate dream. Or perhaps we are catching a glimpse of a story but, disarmingly, we have no idea what the plot is.  

Part of the peculiarity stems from Daisy‘s method of working. She describes this as being a bit “magpie-like,” in that she collects striking images and delves into them as the mood takes her. Or as the barometer dips. As a result, her work seems to be almost historical; but just as you wonder if this
is Renaissance Venice or an Elizabethan garden, the weirdness seeps through again. We are not being placed anywhere temporally specific.

Instead, we have been let into a world somewhere between dreams and nightmares. The prevalence of birds is also rather striking. It would be tempting to read off something about the symbolism of birds. But, Daisy’s birds are not avian emojis. Owls do not equal wisdom: they equal the strangeness of being an owl: the essence of owlishness. The birds, like the women, exist just slightly beyond our logic. There is perhaps even a sense of witches and their familiars. Daisy has six cats, which may or may not be relevant. Her own garden is a little wild: badgers pop by in the same moonlight that illuminates some of her work.

If one were looking to place Daisy’s work within recognisable categories, I suspect one might see her as a surrealist. In the tradition of rebel female surrealists stretching back to Leonora Carrington or the Spanish artist Remedios Varo. The latter’s famous comment that she was, “on second thoughts, crazier than my goat,” perhaps captures some of the perverse spirit in Daisy’s work. And there are also hints of medieval bizarreness, such as in the writhing visions of Hieronymus Bosch. It surely takes an amazing potency of imagination to find the gardens of earthly delight round the corner from Lidl.     

The absence of men in her work is notable. Daisy believes that this is in part a “reflection of a feminist outlook” but the work is not overtly or obviously political. Female nudes hang around in leafy glades but not for the benefit of impending princes. The work obeys other rules, although no one is quite sure what those rules are. Daisy actually highly values uncertainty. She welcomes the “happy accident” in painting, or what Brian Eno once called the artist’s “hidden intentions.” One does not have to be a Freudian to know that the unconscious mind thinks its own thoughts.

Daisy freely admits that her titles offer few clues. Her painting of a curious Quakerish woman with a greenish bird, for example, is starkly entitled Woman with Bird. One is inevitably left just wondering. Who is that woman? What is the bird thinking? What is it all about, Daisy? Judging by its relaxed demeanour, the only being who knows the answers to these questions is Daisy’s big blue-eyed cat. And that is probably as it should be.