The first thing you notice as you walk into the Artist Residence Hotel in Regency Square is that there appears to be more musical instruments than guests.

Paintings, prints and sculptures cover every wall and surface and antique furnishings decked with exotic ceramics compete with customised coat racks to fill every nook and cranny.

It certainly makes for a cluttered but befitting introduction, as I meet Brighton artist Pinky who has added his creative touch to one of the hotel’s 17 rooms.

“I chose the penthouse because of its magnificent view towards the West Pier. It was turquoise, which is one of my favourite colours, and very evocative of the sea. I have tried to work in the waves and I wanted to capture some of the sense of being only a stone’s throw away from the beach.

“My design is based on some ideas I had for an exhibition which begins today in the hotel’s café. I suppose you could call it pop art, surreal or psychedelic if you like, but it’s not trying to be anything in particular.

“My work comes naturally, and without too much preparation. The design is of two people’s profiles because I wanted to capture the intensity created between two people alone in a room.”

Pinky (listed on his birth certificate as Luke Cooke) is one of a selection of artists commissioned to decorate the hotel’s rooms. Mel Sheppard, who lives on a Brighton houseboat, added her storybook style to room five, and Laura Krikke, an Australian who has exhibited in all the world’s art capitals, designed Pinky’s favourite room, The Watchers.

“The Watchers is my favourite, but every room is truly unique,” says Pinky, who relocated to Brighton from San Francisco three years ago, but is originally from Hull.

“I’m an aesthetic artist really, my heroes are people like Peter Blake, Peter Max, Picasso, who have striking designs. I love distinctive colour and strong iconography.

“Yes, you can see elements of a graphic style in there, bits of inspiration from when I used to do graffiti, but I have moved on, this is me developing as an artist.”

Downstairs, in the café- cum-gallery, which is hosting Pinkyvision, hangs One Love, Pinky’s most recent work originally created for an exhibiton in Hull Central Library as part of Hull’s Literature Festival, Humber Mouth.

“One Love was in part a reaction to the recent European elections.

The BNP won seats in Yorkshire and I suppose the title is a reference to that. Yes, UKIP have won seats before, but they are just a slogan.

The BNP are something more.

They divide people. We need to unify again.”

Pinky is quick to distance himself from too much allegory and his face lights up as I mention One Love’s Stone Roses’ reference.

“Music and art go hand-in-hand. I’m a massive music fan. I was a huge Stone Roses fan. I love discovering new music and you can see those influences in my work. Psychedelia has always interested me. The Doors, MGMT, Super Furry Animals, they’re all in there.”

I see he’s getting a bit itchy, unusual for a man who exudes calm and has been patiently talking me through his life for more than hour.

“Sorry, gotta dash,” he says. “Heels On Fire are playing a free gig on the beach now. Wanna come?”

* For more information on the exhibition, where there will be the chance to win an all-expenses stay in Pinky’s penthouse suite, call 01273 324302, visit www.artistresidence.co.uk or www.pinkyvision.com.

*Opens August 15, 7pm to 9pm, runs until September 4, free