Latest News

ON THE KELLY TRAIL WITH ANITA RANI AND COUNTRYFILE 10th April 2018 Don’t miss Anita Rani and me on Percy Kelly’s Whitehaven trail on #countryfile on BBC1 on Sunday at 7.00 @BBCCCountryfile. Percy Kelly is having a good centenary year. After the resounding success of  his retrospective exhibition at Tullie House, his unique vision of his native West Cumbria has come to the attention of Countryfile. It is inevitable that, despite Kelly’s retentiveness and hatred of anyone seeing or even touching his work, he is now getting more and more recognition albeit 25 year... Read More »»
MY TALENT IS JUST TOO MUCH
MY TALENT IS JUST TOO MUCH 31st March 2018 The link, as promised, to the excellent 1 hour documentary about Percy Kelly produced by Radio Cumbria will be accessible for the next 29 days.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p060gk8h  Belinda Artingstoll of Radio Cumbria has excelled herself in her research, editing and presentation. The title is a direct quotation from Kelly.  A day without painting or drawing threatened disaster and depression and, while it sounds conceited, it is absolutely true. Kelly wished himself normal without this g... Read More »»
PERCY ON THE RADIO
PERCY ON THE RADIO 29th March 2018 BBC Radio Cumbria has put together a 1 hour documentary programme about #Percy Kelly. This will go out tomorrow, Good Friday, at 1pm. Belinda Artingstoll has recorded a series of interviews with people who knew him. It should be very  interesting. She has spent a lot of time and energy researching it. If you are out and about you will find it later on Listen Again. I am also awaiting a link where you can access it for the next 30 days. I will send that to you as soon as I get it. I have been fra... Read More »»
ON THE TRAIL WITH COUNTRYFILE
ON THE TRAIL WITH COUNTRYFILE 23rd March 2018 I spent a glorious day last week walking around Whitehaven harbour in the sunshine before climbing the cliffs to the South in the company of a Countryfile producer.  The views were magnificent and it was so clear we could see the Isle of Man. I love that bit of coastline because it is so full of interest. A bonus was a visit to The Beacon where we parked by the harbour  to show her the two Kelly paintings – the large Parton Panorama and Whitehaven Harbour from The Fan House - loaned by Copeland ... Read More »»
WORDS BY THE WATER
WORDS BY THE WATER 6th March 2018 Reasons for optimism; the snow has gone, the Percy Kelly exhibition of prints is up and running at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick despite all the difficulties the weather threw at us and excitement is mounting at the approach of the annual Words by the Water Festival. This week Theatre by the Lake is coming alive with activity. People and books are beginning to arrive and Friday will see the beginning of 10 days of pure enjoyment as writers and thinkers stimulate our minds and inspire us to read... Read More »»
GONE WEST
GONE WEST 1st March 2018 The Beast from the east has scuppered the opening tonight of Percy Kelly’s print show in the west.  The Reluctant Exhibitionist is hung and looks wonderful but it has become quite clear that weather conditions are against us. There isn’t much snow but the underlying ice is lethal.  So Theatre by the Lake have decided to cancel. It is too dangerous to be out driving in the dark under these conditions unless you really have to. Until we know what the weather is going to do next, they daren’t resch... Read More »»
IT’S OVER – FOR NOW ...
IT’S OVER – FOR NOW ... 19th February 2018 Overwhelming! This has moved me so much – I have felt the presence of the artist everywhere. Amazing; full of love, despair, truth, honesty, aspiration and an absolute joy to behold. Breathtaking. We have seen the beauty and truth he wanted us to see. Simply brilliant.  Just a few of the  comments in the Visitors Book at Tullie House Despite an extension of 3 weeks, the Percy Kelly retrospective exhibition at Tullie House was still busy all day yesterday – its last day - with a constant stream ... Read More »»
AN INVITATION
AN INVITATION 12th February 2018 AN INVITATION from Theatre by the Lake Keswick To celebrate our new exhibition we'd like to invite you to the opening of THE RELUCTANT EXHIBITIONIST Etchings, screenprints, lithographs by PERCY KELLY on Thursday 1st March at 6.30pm at THEATRE BY THE LAKE, KESWICK CA12 5DJ The exhibition runs from 2nd - 25th March 2018 Prints will be for sale with profits going to the theatre Please RSVP to Rachel.Swift@theatrebythelake.com by February 20th ... Read More »»
A BOUQUET FOR PERCY
A BOUQUET FOR PERCY 12th February 2018 With just 1 week to go before the end of the Kelly retrospective there has been no falling off of visitor numbers. The gallery tours on Saturdays have proved very popular and have, I hope, enhanced enjoyment of the exhibition. The last tour is next Saturday 2.00 – 3.00. It will be really sad to see it all come down. However the generous lenders to the show have now been without their paintings for more than 5 months and will be glad to get them back. But all is not lost. There is another Kelly... Read More »»
INTO EXTRA TIME
INTO EXTRA TIME 29th January 2018 So we’ve reached the designated end of the Kelly retrospective and entering 3 weeks of extension. The exhibition will now close on Sunday 18th February. People are still pouring in and they  are still getting very emotional about it all. Some are now on their 4th or 5th visit and still they come. It is overwhelming. The shop should be selling Percy Kelly paper handkerchiefs (I’ll keep that in mind for the next time!) Every time I go in Tullie House I steel myself for a big surprise.  There were ... Read More »»