CHRIS WADSWORTH is a northern writer. She trained as an art teacher working in secondary schools in Yorkshire, County Durham, Dorset and the Isle of Wight.
In 1986, after many years in exile in the South she moved to Cumbria, fell in love with a beautiful Georgian house in Cockermouth and became a Gallerist.
Over the last 25 years she has mounted many landmark exhibitions at Castlegate House in Cockermouth including L S Lowry, Sheila Fell, Winifred Nicholson, Mary Fedden, Barbara Rae, Elizabeth Frink and Percy Kelly and produced some exquisite catalogues and books.
She wrote for Art Review for many years as well as a regular series of articles for Cumbria Life.
She has travelled widely in her search for art and artists; Africa, India, Japan, Australia, Russia. She has become a well known speaker and lecturer.
Her enthusiasm for art has spilled out into her writing. In 2009 her memoir of gallery stories Hercules and the farmer's wife was published first in hard cover and then in paperback closely followed by her quirky biography of reclusive and retentive artist Percy Kelly The man who couldn't stop drawing.
Chris sold her gallery in July 2012 on its 25th birthday to devote more time to writing.
In 2013 she created a box of 6 PERCY KELLY TRAILS guided by his paintings which were later featured on BBC Countryfile. This was followed in 2015 by LIFE CLASS - the memoir of an accidental gallerist.
She then went on to curate LINE OF BEAUTY the highly successful retrospective of the life's work of Percy Kelly at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle. Opening in 2017 it featured more then 140 landmark works plus letters, artifacts and film footage which ran for 5 months and attracted thousands of visitors from all over the world.
In September 2018, in response to the many schools who visited the exhibition, she produced 'HAVE A HUMBUG an interactive drawing book based on Kelly's life and work. This is now being used in many schools in West Cumbria.
All publications can be found on the merchandise page.
Chris lives and works in Keswick.