Looking for a statement piece of art - like a beloved statue waving around some loo roll? Kent's artists have you covered.

With so much free time during lockdown, many local artists have been working hard to inspire and support their communities, insisting they will come out 'stronger than before.'

Vicki Griggs and Kevin Malone, who co-run The Little Art Gallery in Broadstairs, managed to raise £400 for a mental health charity last weekend.

They stood a sketch of a school of fish outside the gallery in and under the warm beach-side sun, over 100 passers-by made their mark on the painting.

Funds raised from the finished painting - named 'Crazy Fish' - and its mounted prints will be given to the Thanet mental health group, Man Club, to support men struggling with the stress and isolation of lockdown.

Vicki said: "Art is so therapeutic for helping with anxiety and stress. It takes your mind away from everything and you can really lose yourself in it. The world is a crazy place at the moment, but it’s always beautiful."

In May, the gallery also auctioned off £600 worth of art and asked for the money to be used in Margate Hospital's Covid wards 'to make life a little easier for them.'

In Tonbridge , ArtSpring Gallery is gearing up for their October 'Art Escape' exhibition, featuring work created by 30 local artists inspired by lockdown.

Hildegard Pax, the gallery manager added: "Much of the work is cheerful and uplifting, but some artists have found themselves making work to express their inner feelings of insecurity and anxiety. Finding empathy with one another is a valued outcome of sharing work."

The Tonbridge gallery will donate 10% of the profits to YoungMinds UK to help parents and their children cope with the uncertainty many are carrying.

Medway artist Luna Zsigo and her art class Explore and Draw, have adapted to the pandemic by moving classes online.

As restrictions have loosened, her group was given the chance to hold their own 'Art In Lockdown' exhibition at Rochester Art Gallery, where her students from the age of two to 75-years-old displayed their hard work.

Artists and gallery managers across Kent say they have noticed more art inspired by the outdoors over the last few months - whether it was of the escape of a wide open wilderness or rediscovering the garden while stuck at home.

Luna said: "When we got all the work in for the exhibition there seemed to be this theme of nature, people became very aware of nature. So you had walls filled with that but then we have this very urban feel. People were aware their social landscape had changed.

"We had the depression of the lockdown, the inwards thinking as well. One young girl, aged 10, did a painting called 'Lonely Man.' I've seen people stand there close to tears looking at that painting."

Genevieve Tullberg, manager at Nucleus Art's, said there have been a number of pieces depicting people in masks which spoke to the strange and complicated feelings around the pandemic. Hildegard Pax, manager of ArtSpring Gallery, also noticed colour being utilised more in celebration of the NHS.

The industry is currently enjoying a rise in interest from people coming in to buy large statement pieces for refurbished houses or to inspire them in their home offices.

According to Mike Samson, manager of York Street Gallery in Ramsgate, the restrictions have meant art enthusiasts are not been able to visit expensive London galleries for the day, so new people are regularly visiting the local gallery instead.

The York Street Gallery manager added: "We reopened on July 1 rather tentatively with our first exhibition. To my astonishment, the first sale was within five minutes of opening and it has just continued non-stop. This July actually ended up being the best July we've ever had.

"The feedback I got from visitors was that they were surprised - in a nice way - about what was on offer. A lot of this good stuff never gets seen outside of Thanet. I think one of the benefits post lockdown is we've got a new audience which is now going to come back."

Luna Zsigo echoes this feeling, adding that the art community has really come together during these tough times.

She added: "I think people are going to be seeking these pleasures and really appreciating it, giving themselves what they need while supporting others.

"When we go back to normal, I think our community is going to be even stronger than it was before."

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