Everywhere you go in Margate right now, people are talking plans, arrangements, schemes. Meeting in Fort’s cafe with a laptop talking about funding applications. Men walking on the beach at sunset discussing viability of this and that. Flyers up for art projects and club nights. Anecdotes shared by shopkeepers about the number of arty types moving down from London, swapping a basement rabbit hutch for a handsome Victorian 5-bedder, paint it as a soon-to-be  Dalston-on-sea. Events and exhibitions are springing up in the endless empty shops, lofts and basements. And the town even has its own Warhol-in-waiting, artist Charlie Evaristo-Boyce.

I’d already seen his work all over town without realising it. Posters for this, signage for that… his distinctive paintings and illustrations have been put to use on numerous local projects. The old viewing shelter opposite the flat even got a makeover as part of a project of his – in Margate you can even drink your can of Special Brew in an artist-designed hang-out. His style is so distinctive, part Warhol, part Basquiat, mixing logos from fruit boxes with handwriting and scrappy, dynamic sketches. The style suits Margate brilliantly – bright, bold, a bit throwaway, a bit kitsch. His prints of pineapples, bananas and watermelons are like the old arcade games come to life.

He’s even set himself up in a shop – the self-styled smallest shop in Margate. Find it on Fort Road, opposite the lovely Margate Retro General Store. Or check out his website, which he has called, rather perfectly, Optical-Confectionary. Sweet.