EXHIBITION AT THEATRE BY THE LAKE: PERCY KELLY OFF THE WALL.
Date Posted: 11th September 2025
ON THE WALL AT THEATRE BY THE LAKE
I’ve emerged out of purdah to mount another fund raising exhibition of Percy Kelly’s work at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick with the help of Sal and Tony Calvin who are fast becoming Kelly experts (Tony is a great researcher and spends hours finding the location of some of the Kelly works (* shhh but there are one or two he hasn’t been able to locate – you may be able to help!). Sal finds and tells the stories.
PERCY KELLY OFF THE WALL
An exhibition of paintings, drawings, original prints and etchings from Kelly’s plates.
SATURDAY 25TH OCTOBER – SATURDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2025
12 noon – 5.00 pm Closed Sundays
Entry Free.
Nothing will be sold before the opening at 12 noon 25th October and the exhibition will remain intact throughout. Buyers will collect after it has closed
The exhibition is an overview of Kelly’s works. There are some stunning charcoals of villages in West Cumbria and a few drawings and paintings of Cockermouth. Alongside there are some colourful works of flora and fauna, the centrepiece of which is this flamboyant cockerel in mixed media. Its abstract background is like a stained glass window that shows off the bright red cockerel strutting in the foreground. There is something for everyone here.
PRINT DAYS After the success of the limited edition etchings last year Master Printmaker Robert Adam has made some more limited editions from Kelly’s plates. (They don’t have as many naughts on the end as the paintings and drawings! ) Robert has generously offered to come down from Graal Press in Edinburgh on Tuesdays 4th and 11th November 2 – 3.30 pm for an informal conversation about the process of Kelly’s printmaking. He has spent his life studying, making, teaching and writing about printmaking. He is a great fan of Percy Kelly’s skill and achievements.
STORY DAYS Sal and Tony will be in the exhibition Friday 31st October and Friday 14th November telling stories about some of the works on show.
The paintings and drawings are now on the web site www.percykelly.co.uk. under works for sale. The new etchings will follow in another newsletter. I don’t have a price list yet.
AN APOLOGY
Sorry for my lack of communications this summer. I do have an excuse. I’m working on a new book about Percy Kelly which keeps my brain ticking over but takes time and concentration so I’ve locked myself away for much of the time. I have learned so much more since I wrote The man who couldn’t stop drawing which was published in 2011. Since then it has had 2 reprints and when I recently did a count I realised I had less than 100 left so it was a choice of a reprint or a new book. The Kelly retrospective (2017/18) gave me access to more letters and information so a new book seems to make more sense. It also raised a lot more questions some of which I can now answer more confidently rather than speculate. There are some surprises in store. Kelly was an extremely complex character and I am learning much more. I’m aiming to get THE RELUCTANT EXHIBITIONIST out by next March 2026 which is optimistic but it gives a deadline to encourage me. I work better that way.
See you at the exhibition.