Latest News

MEET MR TURNER IN KESWICK 11th November 2019 J.M.W Turner visited Keswick several times as a young man and was enthused when he saw this mountainous landscape appearing through mist and rain for the first time. He subsequently painted Derwentwater, Friars Cragg, The Lodore Falls, Buttermere, Crummockwater, Ullswater, Windermere, Carlisle, Whitehaven, Ambleside, Cockermouth Castle and more. He couldn’t get enough of it.   And – he’s coming back again!  In response to Northern Exposure - a spectacular exhibition of his northern paintings and... Read More »»
CORRECTION - AGAIN! 11th November 2019  Sorry I looked at the wrong dates. got mixed up with Theatre by the Lake.in my diary and pressed the button too soon. Thank you to those who quickly spotted it. I have now corrected it on the newsletter but too late. Alhambra Keswick. Mr Turner. Tuesday 19th November at 5.00pm and  Friday 22nd November at !.00pm. Apologies chris ... Read More »»
WOOPS! 20th October 2019 First of all, an apology. I was wrong when I told you the 3-venueTurner Exhibition – Northern Exposure – began in Harrogate. It actually began in Berwick on Tweed last May, continued to Carlisle where it opened yesterday and will continue until 5th January 2020 when it will move on to its final venue, The Mercer Gallery in Harrogate from 18th January to 18th April 2020. The exhibition is full of atmosphere. Cumbria particularly delighted Turner despite it raining almost every day - so much so t... Read More »»
MAKING NOTES 14th October 2019 There are three exciting exhibitions opening in the two major Cumbrian galleries next weekend. It is a happy coincidence that a major exhibition of the work of J M W Turner opens at Tullie House in Carlisle just as the artist has been chosen to grace our new £20 notes against a background of his best known and loved painting The Fighting Temeraire.  Turner is one of our finest watercolour painters who could capture light and atmosphere like nobody who had gone before. It is great that he should... Read More »»
SHEILE FELL RA 1931 - 1979
SHEILE FELL RA 1931 - 1979 13th September 2019 Buying a work of art is a memorable occasion – especially if you queued for it on the doorstep of the gallery as many of you did.  I clearly recall buying my first Sheila Fell painting in 1991 from the Rev Geoffery Bennett’s solicitor Ian Sutcliffe in his office in Castle Street Carlisle where it was hung. This was shortly after attending the opening of Fell’s Retrospective at the Royal Academy in 1990 which then travelled the country. Subsequently a surprising number of her works went through m... Read More »»
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
NORTHERN EXPOSURE 6th September 2019 A Percy Kelly charcoal drawing, Church by the Bridge dated 1958, sold at Mitchells Auction a few months ago. I was pleased when the successful bidder got in touch to tell me she had found exactly where the artist had stood to make it.  Although it had passed through my hands at some point, I had no idea it was Calder Bridge.  She told me of the frisson of excitement she felt as she stood where Kelly had stood to take the photograph which she sent to me.  Calder Bridge hasn’t changed much in 50 y... Read More »»
AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT
AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT 25th July 2019 I wrote a newsletter a year ago about the mural that Ewanrigg School in Maryport had made on their playground wall from plastic waste. They based it on one of Percy Kelly’s paintings of a trawler in Maryport harbour.  I was so pleased when I got an invitation last week to the unveiling of its sequel which is based on Percy’s painting of the red church in Maryport. This has been a wonderful project in so many ways and it was lovely to see the enthusiasm of the children. We had tea and cake afterw... Read More »»
A WALK ROUND ALLONBY WITH PERCY KELLY
A WALK ROUND ALLONBY WITH PERCY KELLY 18th July 2019 For the last 40 years there has been a summer art exhibition at Allonby, a small village on the Solway coast just a few miles North of Maryport. It is a free for all - anyone can submit – and many do. There are no rules for entry, no selection committee, no prizes, no judgments. The works are hung in the village hall - floor to ceiling, edge to edge (sometimes on the floor!) in alphabetical order so you get the picture as it were and there are lots of them.  The exhibition opens Thursday 25th Ju... Read More »»
PERCY AND THE D DAY LANDINGS
PERCY AND THE D DAY LANDINGS 7th June 2019 Last night, as part of the D Day celebrations, the BBC showed footage of the cathedral in Caen where French civilians had taken shelter during the D Day landings. This sent me up into the loft to find the folder of Percy Kelly’s army drawings.  I have attached his superb drawing of a bombed church in Caen.   Percy and his twin brother John aged 20 volunteered to join the army in 1939.  John who was employed by a local builder was drafted to the Royal Artillery and Percy who was employed by the ... Read More »»
BILL PEASCOD. PEAKS AND PAINTINGS
BILL PEASCOD. PEAKS AND PAINTINGS 16th May 2019 I am just preparing a talk about Bill Peascod;- Maryport miner, climber and painter which I will present at the Settlement Maryport 23rd May at 7.00. (doors open at 6.30).  £5 entry which goes to the Settlement Restoration fund I will be talking about Bill’s life and work as well as my own experiences tracking him across the world; Maryport, Bassenthwate, Australia and Japan. I mounted a memorial exhibition in 1989 at Castlegate House opened by Melvyn Bragg, sponsored by The Coal Board and atte... Read More »»