Publications

THE MAN WHO COULDN'T STOP DRAWING The extraordinary life of Percy Kelly

Percy Kelly began to draw as soon as he could hold a pencil. He didn`t draw like a child. He had an innate understanding of perspective, draughtmanship and balance. He drew or painted every day of his life even through his army service in the second world war often in defiance of orders to send his materials home. In his first job in the postal service he would occasionally draw on the mail he was about to deliver until there was a complaint from one recipient. He drew on plastic plates in hospital. He drew on the back of cereal packets and envelopes. He drew and doodled on anything in his orbit. It was a compulsion. A day without drawing plunged him into depression. It was as necessary to his health as eating and drinking.

After his death in 1993, Chris Wadsworth brought his life`s work back to his native Cumberland and has been his champion, building his reputation from nothing. In the last 18 years she has gathered information from many sources, built it up piece by piece like a jigsaw and now is ready to tell the story of the extraordinary life of Percy Kelly which began in a terrace house in Workington, Cumbria, through Cornwall and Brittany to a derelict house in Pembrokeshire and a cottage in the backwoods of Norfolk. On that journey he discussed art with the Prime Minister Winston Churchill during air raids, shook hands with the King, George VI, at the National Gallery and dined with members of the Royal family. He corresponded with some of the highest in the land and ended up lonely and confused in a cottage in Norfolk surrounded by his beloved collection of art.

THE MAN WHO COULDN'T STOP DRAWING       The extraordinary life of Percy Kelly
Price: £25.00
Percy Kelly Cards - Pack of 10

Pack of 10 Percy Kelly cards (5 of each image) with envelopes Blank inside.

Birthday Flowers and  Yellow Landscape St Johns in the Vale 1966

Percy Kelly Cards - Pack of 10
Price: £20.00
Complete Trail Collection

Purchase the complete trail collection for a copy of all 6 trail brochures in an attractive box

Makes an ideal gift or collectors item.

Now in stock

Complete Trail Collection
Price: £15.00
HERCULES AND THE FARMER'S WIFE

SORRY

This book is now out of print. There are a few available on Amazon and local bookshops.

You can get the digital version @ £6.99 on Amazon kindle.

Life Class

Chris Wadsworth is a born storyteller. With its cast of painters, hustlers and eccentrics, her memoir reads more like a comic novel at times. If you've ever wondered what it's like to run a provincial art gallery, this is the book for you.
Blake Morrison

'It was pure theatre,' says Chris 'with a large cast of Interesting people - art lovers, eccentrics and artists passed through the gallery each day. I never knew what would happen next but something dramatic invariably did.'

In this memoir Chris tells the stories of some of the people, the art works and the situations she encountered in her 25 years  at Castlegate House - the gallery she began almost by accident, which became an overnight success and took over her life.

Was the knob man a serial killer? Was the relief she found a genuine Ben Nicholson? How did she get her Magic Knickers?

You will find the answers in this book which is in turn hilarious, informative and sad.

Life Class
Price: £5.00
The Tullie House Etching

The Tullie House Etching

Newlands Church

Edition of 75

Hand printed from Kelly's etching plate.

37 x 38cm

The Tullie House Etching
Price: £250.00
The Derwent Etching

The White Barn Cumberland

56 x 58 cm

Edition of 75

Printed from a plate made by Percy Kelly 1966

Unframed

The Derwent Etching
Price: £250.00