One Year in Hastings

I moved to Hastings a year ago today, so it seems like a good time to look back on how it's gone so far.

I haven’t made as much artwork in this first year in Hastings compared to previous years. Some of that is due to the process of moving and settling in during the first few months, and some is due to not having yet established ties with local life-models - employing models who don’t live in Hastings or St Leonards is more expensive because I obviously need to pay their travel costs in addition to their hourly rate for modelling.

However yesterday I arranged a life-drawing session with one local life-model next month, so that’s moving in the right direction.

I joined Hastings Arts Forum and took part in the HAF Members Show back in May, and I’ll probably also submit a piece to their Members Show in August as well, which will be part of the Coastal Currents festival.

I have my first solo exhibition in Hastings—Acid Renaissance: Arcana—coming up 1^st–24^th August. And, of course, I have a dedicated room in my flat as a studio space now.

So while I need to make more artwork over the next twelve months, I can at least be happy about the number of exhibitions I’m getting myself included in, and the physical space I have in which to create new work.

I’m very introverted, and so I’m not particularly good at making friends, but I’m slowly starting to build up a small pool of acquaintances in Hastings, some of whom could possibly evolve into friends over time.

Even better, a very good old friend of mine has recently moved here. I could still do with getting to know a few more people, but it’s a good start by my standards. I even frequent a bar in the Old Town where the landlord greets me by name and asks if I want “the usual”, which is surely the quintessential sign of having made a town your home.

My flat is now familiar enough to feel like home now, and I’m getting to know my way around Hastings and St Leonards. I’ve become a member of Hastings Contemporary gallery, so I get free entry to all the exhibitions and am invited to the private views.

So I’m generally happy with that side of things as well. Here’s to the next year.