Photo: Sculpture in Landscape, 2002 by Paul McDevitt © and courtesy of the artist.

Liza Laws escaped to Eastbourne where she found a world of romance and fantasy... But you'd better hurry if you want more of the same, it's only on for two more weeks!

I Want I Want is on show at the Towner Art Gallery and Museum in Eastbourne until January 25.

Named after, and inspired by, the William Blake print of 1793, the exhibition is centred around fantasy and desires. In Blake’s picture a figure tries to climb to the moon on an extremely long ladder, his desires outweighed by reality.

There are nine different artists displaying at the exhibition and one of the many treats is the vast array of materials used.

Charlie Batchelor, Exhibitions and Marketing Manager, said, "Every room is different; we have oils, acrylics, video, sculptures, sketches, collages and photos."

The first gallery is dedicated to Dan Howard-Birt. Suspended from the high ceiling are bunches of dried flowers that have been crafted meticulously into letters. The letters form a ring which reads ‘Christmas in New York Summer in Maine.’

"The quote came from Alex Katz at a talk he was giving at the Tate gallery and this is the artist’s impression of it, this is the first time that the flowers have been hung like this, usually they hang from a structure but we didn’t want to waste the space as the ceilings are so high," explained Charlie.

Photo: Rescue Me, 2002 by Michael Samuels © and courtesy of the artist.

The next gallery featured the extraordinary work of Paul McDevitt who has four pieces at the exhibition. Painted directly onto one of the walls in the room is a painting called Worlds Collide/Two Lampshades.

"It is a very interesting use of the 18th century mouldings, a traditional frame around a contemporary piece. The artist was interested in the ugliness of acrylic," said Charlie. It is certainly a vibrant piece, not dissimilar to graffiti and looks slightly out of place sprayed on to the wall of such an old building.

However, the most amazing pieces have to be the works in coloured pencil on paper, the detail is quite breathtaking and it is very hard to imagine that the pictures have been hand drawn with coloured pencils - from a distance they could be mistaken for photographs. The most memorable are the fireworks that are just bursting with life and colour.

Another particular highlight are Michael Samuels’ sculptures. Rescue Me depicts the ideal desert island surrounded by deep turquoise sea, the perfection makes you desperate to touch it, like a sparkling jewel. The detail is just unique.

"This comes from a very much up and coming artist. He has used resin, plaster and mixed media. While the tops are perfect, the bottoms of the sculptures are unfinished and purely functional. It shows contrast between worlds, between fantasy and reality," said Charlie.

Photo: Orange Lake, 2000 by Henna Nadeem © and courtesy of the artist.

Other work includes Adam Pointer's light boxes where he tries to capture ideal landscapes.

Henna Nadeem uses photographs from books and archives of generic landscapes and lays Islamic patterns over them to create a distorted sense of reality.

"These contrast the exotic and the everyday, they are very crafty and require a great deal of skill," said Charlie.

In the final room are three large paintings by Dee Ferris, they could be described as fluffy or sugary and, although the colours aren’t primary or particularly vibrant, they are bright and soothing. She uses oil and glitter on her canvas and the collection is called Ideal Homes 2.

"It is a colourful end to the exhibition but also a sad one too, the paint, that has been dribbled down the paintings, gives the impression that someone has been crying, they portray a saccharine dreamlike fantasy," added Charlie.

People of all ages will love this exhibition, enchanting for children and captivating and charming for adults.