Plumpton artists raise more than £1,000 for community homeless support group

An artist couple are celebrating the success of their joint fundraising attic sale in support of a Brighton and Hove charity.
Art on displayArt on display
Art on display

On Saturday (March 14), street artist Grant Dejonge, known for his impressionistic landscapes of the South Downs, and his wife Jackie, a fashion illustrator, hosted an attic sale.

The joint sale at the couple’s exhibition centre adjacent to the Half Moon pub in Plumpton, where Grant and Jackie live with their two children, Alex, 14, and Lauren, 12.

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Half the proceeds will go to Knight Suppport, a community support group which runs an out-reach programme which actively seeks out homeless people to provide them with essentials donated by the public.

Grant exhibited sketches, drawings, paintings and sculptures, while Jackie offered customers the chance to have their portraits digitally drawn on the day.

Many of her works for the major fashion houses, Givenchy, Chanel, Gaultier will also be on display.

Grant, 51, said: “The housing crisis has left so many people destitute. We’re lucky to have a roof over our heads.

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“Imagine how it must feel to be out on the streets in the kind of weather we’ve been having recently, let alone the coronavirus scare.

“How do you self-isolate if you are living on the streets? It’s heartbreaking.”

The event raised £1,120 for Knight Support.

Lynne Knight, 42, from Brighton, community manager at Knight Support, said: “It’s so good of Grant and Jackie, we’re very grateful.

“In these days of austerity every donation is a big help.

“Caring and being kind to each other is so important and so often sadly lacking it seems in this day and age.”

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Grant is also known for creating the three-metre high murals which can still be seen in the centre of Brighton near the city’s library.

The painting, called Lost, depicts a child sleeping on a park bench under lamplight.

The hard-hitting image won a national street art competition commissioned by artrepublic.com back in 2010.

Jackie said: “A huge shout out to The Half Moon and Melanie Routledge who runs the pub and the owners from Regency Corporation (Matt Short and Dan Chester), they take no commission at all and let us use their private dining room at the front of the pub. Grant also shows his work there all year round.

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“Grant was responsible for most of the sales of his wonderful oil paintings (local landscapes and some more abstract pieces), whilst I did fashion portraits on the spot in my iPad and printed off with a Bluetooth printer.

“We plan to continue sales and support with an online auction of our work, again, 50 per cent going to same charity.

“These will be for sale on Instagram @grantdejonge and Facebook Grant Dejonge from next week.”

Find out more about Knight Support at knightsupport.co.uk.