Tributes paid to Hastings artist

Friends of a Hastings artist have this week paid tribute to him following his death.
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Peter Waldron became one of the most familiar faces in the Old Town over several decades, his friends Sally Walton and Tony Sillem said.

They said: “Many people felt they had a special relationship with Pete and they would have all been right, because he had an extraordinary gift for friendship, with both men and women.

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"He was wonderful, humorous company when with a group but could also be perceptive and sympathetic when discussing the more serious aspects of life with a friend in the corner of The Filo or The Crown.

Peter WaldronPeter Waldron
Peter Waldron

Peter was born into a Swindon railway family. Later, as a student he gave up his engineering studies for fine art, first at Swindon then Chelsea Art College, where he met life model Chris and moved to live in Notting Hill with her and her young daughter Sarah.

He worked as studio assistant to Patrick Caulfield for two years while his own work was shown at both the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford.

In the mid-1970s Peter and Chris moved to Hastings. They lived in George Street and bought a small village house In Crete.

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His friends said he ‘absorbed the Cretan lifestyle, took Greek lessons and painted to his heart’s content’.

Back home Peter earned a living as an antiques dealer.

Following Chris’s death he lived in Croft Road with his new wife Lois.

A studio was built in the courtyard behind the house and they spent half of every year living in Crete.

Sally and Tony said: “Pete was always passionately committed to his vocation as an artist. Over the years his work was subjected to many changes in style and did not always find favour with the wider public but Pete never lacked self-belief and at the time of his death he was finding real success with one-man shows in London, Bath, Chichester, Rye, Hastings and of course Crete.

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“Following Lois’s death in 2019 and towards the end of his own life Pete met Anne and found with her a new hope for the future, which sadly was not to be.”

Peter died on June 20, aged 80. His funeral takes place tomorrow (Wednesday, August 10).

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