Latest News

PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TO ALL MEN ( AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN).
PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TO ALL MEN ( AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN). 20th December 2018 I am sending greetings to you all by e mail or via my regular newsletter on www.percykelly.co.uk. this year. The money I would have spent on Christmas cards has gone to Calderwood House in Egremont near Whitehaven which provides accommodation for the homeless and much more. It provides courses, friendship, jobs and above all - hope. It is alcohol and drug free which is often the cause or the result of homelessness.  Most people have an e mail address these days.  It’s a great way of keeping in ... Read More »»
INSIGHTS - THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
INSIGHTS - THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL 5th December 2018 As we hurtle towards the BIG event of the year (allegedly) and life becomes ever more frantic, I am pleased to be able to point you to a calmer, less demanding event in January when all the mad Fridays, daft Mondays and Christmas ad wars have hopefully stopped. Tullie House has asked me to do a talk and conducted tour of A LEGACY exhibition. So on Saturday 19th January at 2pm I will give an illustrated talk about the life, work and legacy of Percy Kelly in the lecture theatre (approx. 1 hour) f... Read More »»
MORE NEWS FROM THE PINK EGG
MORE NEWS FROM THE PINK EGG 28th November 2018 Glad to hear that many you are enjoying  A LEGACY exhibition at Tullie House. It is quite different from the Retrospective yet it is a continuation that adds an extra dimension to anything you’ve seen before.  It is on the first floor (there is lift access) and follows a meandering route through the museum into old Tullie House. Don’t miss the best view of Drigsby the whale on your way through and the best view of Carlisle from the outdoor viewing platform. I will be in Carlisle this Saturday (... Read More »»
IT'S THE ICING ON THE CAKE!
IT'S THE ICING ON THE CAKE! 7th November 2018 It was good to meet so many of you again at the opening of A Legacy on Saturday. Tullie House once again rose to the occasion with an exquisite birthday cake which had been made in Workington - just like Percy Kelly 100 years ago. He would have been impressed.  I often wonder what his carpenter father and his proud mother with the cornflower blue eyes would have made of their very special son who dined with Royalty, discussed art with the Prime Minister and  whose work is now admired and collect... Read More »»
THE PERCY, WHITEHAVEN
THE PERCY, WHITEHAVEN 30th October 2018 I can feel excitement mounting as we approach Percy’s centenary anniversary. Wherever I go I meet people who want to talk about him and the LEGACY exhibition opening at Tullie House on Saturday. Since Line of Beauty closed in February there has been a feeling of sadness. People are definitely ready for another Percy ‘fix’ and it is appropriate for it to open on his birthday 3rd November. LEGACY is a smaller, more intimate exhibition in a room in the old Tullie House part of the museum. There is ... Read More »»
LEGACY
LEGACY 11th October 2018 Many years ago David Heckles, a solicitor from Ipswich, made his first visit to Castlegate House and he was hooked. He was very quiet and reserved but I got to know him well and we shared many a cuppa in the kitchen. One day as he told me he was making his will and wondered what to do with his 13 Percy Kelly works (some purchased from Castlegate and some from Messums in London’s Cork Street.)  I suggested Tullie House because I knew they didn’t have any at all and, as the county gallery, I thoug... Read More »»
OPENING THE FLOOD GATES
OPENING THE FLOOD GATES 1st October 2018 Have a Humbug was launched amid yellow balloons, wine and canapés on Friday evening as an end to a wonderful day. Fabulous sunny mild weather for the first trail around Maryport. Views of Dumfries and views of the Isle of Man so clear you felt you could swim to them. (er didn’t try!) Attendance was masses above expectations. Dolly and Jeanne had done some good planning and publicity and people poured in. SURPRISE – not only do children like the book but adults are buying it too. This is an e ma... Read More »»
YOU CALL IT A DRAWING … I CALL IT FANTASTIC
YOU CALL IT A DRAWING … I CALL IT FANTASTIC 28th September 2018 Spoken by a young lad of 9 yesterday seeing his first original drawing by Percy Kelly. The 2-day Artfest WHEN PERCY MET NORMAN opens at 1pm  (by our MP Sue Harman) today at the Settlement in Maryport.  The Maryporters have pulled it off!  For the first time in decades there is an exhibition of art and poetry on the newly painted pristine walls of the lovely Georgian building on the cliff top including the view Kelly painted from Castle Hill – The Motte – just over the wall. There have been 2 p... Read More »»
AWARDS AND REWARDS
AWARDS AND REWARDS 24th September 2018 It all began in the Garden of Eden on Friday night!  As opening lines go – you can’t get much better than that - but the dress code was a cocktail dress rather than fig leaf!  The occasion was the Carlisle Living Awards 2018 and I am pleased to tell you that the Kelly retrospective exhibition won the best arts initiative award. It certainly had an impact on Carlisle. It’s hard to believe that it’s a year since we opened that exhibition. It has been non-stop ever since. It’s Monday morning as I ... Read More »»
GO ON … HAVE A HUMBUG! WHY NOT TAKE TWO?
GO ON … HAVE A HUMBUG! WHY NOT TAKE TWO? 14th September 2018 I reiterate the words Percy Kelly wrote to his stepdaughter Kim beside his painting of a big jar of humbugs. I have written this, my first book for children in direct response to the interest shown by the many children who visited the Percy Kelly retrospective at Tullie House in Carlisle. I really enjoyed taking school groups round the show. They were excited by what they saw, asked intelligent questions and could clearly identify with the paintings, drawings and artifacts. I was subsequently i... Read More »»