A round up of the latest news and events on Kent's art scene

Antique of the month: with Aaron Dean of Gorringes

Collecting first editions can be both a pleasure and an investment. Yes, there are books which are beyond most pockets – I recently sold Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, 1933, for �86,000 – but there are other 19th and 20th century first editions which are more accessible by authors who are just as famous. Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie and more recently Discworld creator Terry Pratchett can be purchased at auction from �40 upwards. However, always remember that condition, issue and dust jacket are just some factors vital to a book’s current and future value.

Kent Painters

This year’s Kent Painters Exhibition will take place on 24 and 25 September at Sevenoaks School.

The artists involved are a mixture of leading local professionals and gifted amateurs using a wide range of media and techniques. With no gallery overheads, the public gets the chance to buy quality work at very modest prices and all net proceeds go to Kent charities.

There’s a private view on the Saturday evening and the show will be open for family viewing on the Sunday.

Now in its 21st year, the annual show – which was started by three friends who held a small art sale to raise money for local mental health charities - has now raised well over �220,000.

This has been used to benefit local mental health and learning disability charities, including Sevenoaks Mencap, Macintyre, the Thornedene society, Rethink, and Self Unlimited.

For further information, contact Lucinda Lucey: 07876 562418

Mr Happy

A solo exhibition of 18 landscape paintings by Adam Hargreaves, affectionately known as the ‘Mr Happy’ of the art world, will take place at the Fairfax gallery in Tunbridge Wells from 16-29 September.

It’s been a busy year for Adam with the 40th anniversary of the Mr Men books celebrating some of the most recognisable images in the world.

The name Hargreaves has widely been associated with the Mr Men and Little Miss books, whose characters have entertained children since 1971 with the first book Mr Tickle, a character inspired by eight-year-old Adam when he asked his father Roger "what does a tickle look like?"

Since 1988, Adam continued his father’s legacy, writing and illustrating Mr Men books, but has now rekindled his lifelong passion of painting while still managing to write Mr Men books in his spare time.

For further information: 01892 525525.

Page Turners

Five young artists from Kent are getting the chance of a lifetime to show their work next to the likes of JMW Turner and Andy Warhol at the Turner Contemporary, thanks to a unique talent contest.

The Page Turner competition, organised by the University for the Creative Arts, Turner Contemporary and Aimhigher Kent and Medway, gave young people across the county the opportunity to be on display at the newly opened gallery in Margate.

Work by Faye Nicholls and Heidi Kemp of Canterbury College, UCA Rochester’s Oleta Williams, plus, Erin Williams and Charlie Perkins from Highworth Grammar School, will be included in the Nothing in the World but Youth exhibition at Turner Contemporary from 17 September to 8 January 2012.

Nearly 450 young people, from 40 different institutions, submitted paintings, photographs, sculpture, collages, poems and prose inspired by the theme of the exhibition.

Pearl Bostock at Bedgebury

After retiring as a teacher of fine art at the Kent Institute of Art & Design in Canterbury, local botanical artist Pearl Bostock and seven fellow artists have set up a Florilegium Society at Bedgebury National Pinetum.

The different colours and textures of cones and needles in the world’s best conifer collection make perfect subjects for their meticulous, vivid paintings. Working closely with curator Chris Reynolds and his deputy Dan Luscombe, Pearl and her team are producing a set of beautiful, precise and scientifically important records of the Pinetum’s most intricate components.

The Bedgebury Florilegium Society receives support from the Friends of Bedgebury and the group, which meets once a month at the Pinetum, will be showing their work and giving demonstrations at Bedgebury’s Forest Discovery Day on 11 September.

For more information, contact Malcolm Dove, Friends of Bedgebury Administrator: 01580 879842.

Last chance!

If you haven’t yet visited Folkestone for its second Triennial - A Million Miles from Home - there is still time until 25 September to see the intriguing and varied work of 19 acclaimed international artists in different media around the town, focusing on ideas of immigration and travel.

For further information, contact The Visitor Centre on Tontine Street on:

01303 245799 or info@creativefoundation.org.uk