Newquay artist Diane Griffiths watched her lighthouse sell from home

The opening bid was £3,000, and Diane Griffiths was already delighted with that. Then the number kept moving.

The Newquay artist was at home, watching live, as a lighthouse she had painted went under the hammer in Plymouth on Thursday (1 October). By the time it was over, Celestial Beacon had raised £8,400 for St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth.

📷Diane Griffiths with Celestial Beacon at St Andrews Cross, Plymouth

A summer on the trail in Plymouth

Celestial Beacon spent the summer on display in Plymouth as part of St Luke’s Guiding Lights, a city-wide public art trail. The trail featured 41 large lighthouse sculptures, alongside 51 smaller lighthouses created by schools and community groups.

Diane’s sculpture was sponsored by Ridge. It stayed on the trail throughout the summer before returning with the other Guiding Lights for the charity auction.

📷Celestial Beacon, work in progress

A night sky painted in Newquay

The lighthouse was created in Newquay before spending the summer out on the trail. Diane’s design turned it into a night sky over Plymouth, combining real constellations with local landmarks and hidden details for visitors to find.

There are fireworks too, inspired by the British Firework Championships. And fluorescent elements meant parts of the design came alive under UV light.

Diane is a contemporary painter whose work explores familiar places after dark, particularly the way artificial light, reflections and colour can change everyday scenes. Celestial Beacon took those ideas off the canvas and onto a three-dimensional public artwork. She has written more about the project in her blog on the Guiding Lights trail and auction.

How the bidding went

Online bidding for Celestial Beacon opened at £3,000. It had already reached £3,800 by the time the live auction got properly under way.

From there the price kept climbing, as an online bidder competed with a bidder in the room. The hammer came down at £8,400.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it”

Diane said: “I was watching the auction live from home and honestly couldn’t believe it when the bidding just kept going. I’d already been delighted to see the first £3,000 bid, so to watch Celestial Beacon eventually sell for £8,400 was incredibly exciting.

“The most important thing is knowing that something I created has raised such a fantastic amount for St Luke’s. It was a huge project to take on, but seeing people interact with Celestial Beacon during the trail and then watching that final chapter unfold made all those hours completely worthwhile.”

📷Celestial Beacon at St Andrews Cross, Plymouth