Autumn blows through to Winter

Percy Kelly was born in Workington, Cumbria in 1918, being one of eight siblings. Despite an early aptitude for drawing, Percy left school at 14 to work for the Post Office. Interrupted by war, he served in the Royal Signals, where his talent for draughtsmanship was utilised in the production of maps.  In 1946 Percy returned to Post Office employment, and obsessional painting, working at the Post Office until taking up a full time place at the Carlisle College of Art and Design from 1961 until 1965. In the early 1950s, Percy submitted works to the Royal Academy, Royal Institute and Royal Society of British Artists; all were accepted, and from 1956 until 1963, Percy was a member of The Lakes Artists Society.

Percy’s first solo exhibition was in 1966 at the Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven, courtesy of Sir Nicholas Sekers, as too was an exhibition in Sloane Street in 1968. In 1969 a solo exhibition of his work was held at the Fermay Gallery, Kings Lynn, and in 1976, a seventy-painting exhibition was held at Abbot Hall, Kendal. His final solo exhibition was held in Troutbeck, Cumbria, 1984.

During his life, Percy rebuffed many approaches to exhibit his work, amongst them from the Crane Kalman Gallery in London, Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester, Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham, and not least from Chris Wadsworth at Castlegate House Gallery.  There was much interest in his work during his lifetime, but despite this, only five exhibitions were held; Percy refused to sell all but a very small number of his works.

Percy moved to Norfolk in 1980, and died there in poverty in 1993. After many successful exhibitions at Castlegate House Gallery, the works of Percy Kelly have been shown in two highly successful solo exhibitions at Messums, London.

Mike Bennett was born in Windermere, Cumbria in 1934. Studying at Lancaster and Leicester Colleges of Art from 1950-56, he was to meet June, a fellow student during this time, with them marrying in 1959 after Mike concluded a two year spell of National Service.

Already aware of, and influenced by a new wave of British artists, such as Vaughan, Hitchins and Sutherland, Mike spent much time during his college years painting at home for his own pleasure and development, and a number of paintings from this era are shown within the exhibition.

Starting off married life employed as art teachers in London, Mike and June would spend a huge part of their spare time in and around Bond Street and Cork Street, the Tate and Whitechapel Art Galleries. What was happening in the art world, and particularly within London, was having an impact on them, and it was this impact that Mike was to share with his students in his next teaching post from 1960 at the King Edward VI School in Nuneaton.

Mike loved his teaching role, and with it came the energy and physical studio space to allow him to let his artistic creativity explode. Recognition of Mike's work and talent grew, with successful exhibitions within many parts of the UK, including London, Nottingham and Leeds. In 1965, the newly-growing family moved to Yorkshire, where Mike had secured a teaching post as Lecturer of Painting at Bretton Hall (now better known as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park). He continued to exhibit his work, gaining further national recognition and critical acclaim, particularly once taken up by the Park Square Gallery, Leeds, one of the leading provincial lights for artistic talent. Mike's work was also exhibited at this time along side that of Sheila Fell and Sandra Blow at the influential Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, Surrey.

Further accolades followed Mike's acceptance into the Artists' International Association (AIA), a prestigious art group exhibiting work in it's Soho gallery. Mike was also accepted into the Midland Group of Artists. Despite its provincial underpinnings, it was regarded as one of the leading art groups during the 1950s and 60s, with Mike's work hung along side that of David Hockney.

The 1970s were to be a turning point for Mike and June. Moving to Seascale, the decision was made and both gave up formal educational employment to concentrate fully on their respective art careers. It was also at this time that Mike's work began to take on a more figurative bent. As Mike says "my work began to develop with much more realism, based on the landscape and the sea, sky and hills, but still retaining the ideas and shapes and movement of the earlier work".

Mike's work continued to be exhibited throughout the decade in both mixed and solo shows, including Abbot Hall, Kendal. As the decade progressed, Mike began to experiment with etching and was awarded a Northern Arts Printmaking Bursary in 1979 and 1980, working at Lowick House printmaking studios. 

Moving from Seascale to Port Carlisle, Mike and June spent the next thirty years looking out over the estuary; both influenced by its light and movement. During this time, Mike's work developed, but themes remained, and lineage can be seen back to even many of the large abstract works of the 1960s. Mike exhibited at Castlegate for over two decades. He deservedly has a reputation as an accomplished and highly gifted artist. 

Mike sadly passed away in October 2016. 

1912 - 1977

John was born into a typical poverty stricken family in an economically depressed Oldham in 1924. As the only surviving son past infancy, John was expected to leave school at 14 and start "bringing some money in". This he did, working in a variety of jobs for the next four decades, whilst continuing to indulge his passion for painting. Often seen with paper and pencil, he even designed local railway advertising posters.

After spending five years as an adult at art evening classes, studying life drawing, John found himself faced with redundancy at the age of fifty six. Faced with the choice of starting a new job and new direction afresh, he decided it was time he did what he truly wanted to do, and become a full time artist. He eventually settled his studio at the Alexandra Centre in Uppermill, Lancashire. It was here that we first encountered John and his work in 1994, ourselves poverty stricken newly-weds; John offering to sell us a large painting, splitting the cost over three months. That was our first encounter with "northern art".

John achieved both commercial and critical success, and no more so than in the last ten years or so of his life. He had numerous successful solo exhibitions, ranging from Manchester, Falmouth and London, with his work being purchased by the House of Lords and now hanging in the Committee Rooms.

A book covering John's life and work, entitled John Thompson - "Do you like 'em then" was published in 2006. His work is seen firmly within the Northern School, including Alan Lowndes, Theodore Major and even L S Lowry.

John sadly died aged 87 on 16th July 2011.

Hughie O’Donoghue was born in 1953 in Manchester of British-Irish descent, spending much of his youth in County Mayo. Studied at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, graduating in 1982. The discovery of different histories of place, events and memories, such as that of his mother’s family in County Mayo, or of his father’s experience as a soldier in WW2, has contributed to his approach to making work. He once explained that, in contrast to Lucian Freud’s deliberate decision to avoid ‘the tyranny of the past’ and paint in the now, he consciously wants to look behind himself. He has said “I’m looking at [such a] series of experiences over time”.

Immediately after graduating, O’Donoghue was appointed Artist-in-Residence at Drax Power Station, Yorkshire, and in the following year given a two-year residency at the National Gallery, London. In 2000 he was given a further residency at St John’s College, Oxford. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of Ireland in 2005. He has held many solo exhibitions in Britain (including the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 1999; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and touring, 2001-03; Imperial War Museum, 2003; Leeds City Art Gallery, 2009: Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, 2012) as well as in Ireland, Germany, France, Holland and the Czech Republic.

Hughie O'Donoghue was made an academician of the Royal Academy in 2009

1920 - 1985
A nationally renowned climber and painter, William (Bill) Peascod was born in Maryport, Cumbria, in 1920. Entering the pits, like his father, at 13, it was to be a bike ride into the fells one early morning, aged 17, at the end of a night shift that was to change Bill forever. His autobiography, “Journey into Dawn” recounting his progression from miner, to climber and artist is a must, yet hard to obtain, read for anyone interested.

Bill began to walk the fells, meeting walkers and climbers alike, all fellow enthusiasts. It was this latter group that Bill became part of, with his natural strength and ability leading him to become one of the dominant names in British climbing in late 30s / early 40s.

Qualifying as a mining engineer, Bill emigrated to Australia where he discovered another great passion and natural skill, painting. He became well known as an experimental landscape painter, even, during the 1960s, producing wonderful mixed media works with their surfaces burnt to change the appearance and nature of some of the painted areas.

Despite his success in Australia, including exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Bill longed for his native Cumbria, and returned to the UK in 1980. Here he continued to paint, inspired by the fells he’d got to know before leaving 28 years earlier.

Sadly, Bill died of a heart attack whilst climbing in Wales in 1985. His legacies are many and varied, but none less than the wonderful and unique works he produced in paint.

To follow

Born in London in 1883, despite an early engineering apprentice, Ihlee enrolled in Slade School of Fine Art in 1906, graduating three years later and receiving multiple prizes for his artwork. Success followed, with two exhibitions at the Carfax Gallery between 1912 and 1914.  Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Ihlee worked as an engineering draughtsman, though immediately returning to his art career after the ending of the war.

After achieving further exhibition successes in London, notably at the highly respected Leicester Galleries, Ihlee moved to Collioure, France, in 1921 with close friend and fellow artist, Edgar Hereford. Here they were to produce some of the pair’s finest and most iconic work, further teaming up with the famous designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whom both had know from their London art days.

Ihlee eventually did returned to England, where he died in 1968, aged 85.

A book about the life and works of Rudolph Ihlee, Rudolph Ihlee – the road to Collioure, by James Trollope was published in 2022 by Lund Humphries

Born in 1926, Robert Dawson early-developed a fascination and talent for art which led to him being offered a scholarship to Stoke-on-Trent College of Art at 17. After a hiatus as a solicitor’s clerk, Dawson studied English and Art at Clarendon College in Nottingham, thence becoming a primary school teacher whilst continuing to pursue his love of painting in his spare time. This passion led to him becoming a member of the Staffordshire Society of Artists and being the focal point of a number of exhibitions. This culminated in Dawson winning the Holbrook Prize at Nottingham Castle Museum in 1973, and again in 1974.

Robert Dawson died in 1997, leaving a substantial body of work and a lasting impression on his peers, being known for the personal and intimate nature of his artwork.

Sir Kyffin Williams, RA, was an admirer of Robert Dawson’s work, and was quoted as stating in interview in 2000:

“Robert Dawson was always one of the quiet men of art, a man of great modesty. Unlike so many of the younger artists today, he did not aspire to fame or artistic acclaim but quietly contented himself with wring out his own problems in his own honest way.

Because he painted what he loved he was able to communicate that love to others. For this reason, I believe, his work will always be appreciated long after so much of the facile creations produced today have been forgotten."

A 2017 graduate of the prestigious Duncan of Jordanstone Art School in Dundee, Alice Campbell embodies all that is great about the true resurgence in British contemporary painting. Inventive, skilled, mature and aesthetically exciting, Alice's work has both the energy you'd expect from a immediate post-art school artistic life and the maturity to recognise influences and produce something truly unique in itself. 

Based in Glasgow, Alice could almost be described as a latter-day Scottish Colourist; her ability to deploy strong colour whilst avoiding distraction and confusion shows a maturity and talent beyond her years. 

Awards to-date include:
Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award,  Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, 2018
Ninewells Hospital Radiology Art Prize, Dundee, 2017
Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour invited artist for the ‘Student Award’, 2017
John Kinross Scholarship, Royal Scottish Academy, 2017. Award based in Florence, Italy, October – December, 2017.
Watermark Award, presented by the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, 2015

Exhibitions to-date:
RSA John Kinross Scholarship group show, Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh, 2018
RSW open exhibition, Edinburgh, 2018
Gallery Heinzel, New Faces exhibition, Aberdeen, 2017
DJCAD degree show, 2017
‘Sneaky Peeks’, DJCAD reception, Dundee, 2017
‘Multi’, DJCAD reception, Dundee, 2017
Higher Bridges Gallery, Enniskillen (N.Ireland), 2016
‘Selection Box’, Tin Roof, Dundee, 2016
Laurel Gallery, Edinburgh, 2016
Velvet Easel, Edinburgh, 2016
RSW open exhibition, 2015
Edinburgh Macmillan Art Show, Edinburgh 2014/15

Collections include:
Royal Scottish Academy Collection
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Collection, (University of Dundee)
Ninewells Hospital Art Collection, Dundee

Born in 1931, Sheila Fell grew up in Aspatria, a typical West Cumbrian mining village. Whilst gaining a place at the Carlisle College of Art at 17, within two years she had obtained  a place at St. Martin’s School of Art, London. Here, she befriended Frank Auerbach, amongst other contemporaries, and went on to teach at the Chelsea School of Art.

Sheila Fell held her first exhibition in 1955, courtesy of Beaux Arts, London. It was from this that she met L S Lowry, who purchased a number of paintings from this exhibition, and many more in the years that followed. This was to be a friendship that lasted until Lowry’s death in 1976. Indeed, he assisted her financially to the tune of £3 per week for two of her early London years.

Acclaimed by critics, collectors and her peers, she began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1965, being elected an Associate  Member of the Royal Academy in 1969, and a fully blown Member of the Royal Academy in 1974.

Sheila Fell died in 1979, aged just 48. It is likely that she only painted some six to seven hundred paintings during her life, but what arguably makes them so powerful is her almost unique ability to convey the emotion inherent in a landscape; not just the landscape itself, but the impact it has on you. As Lowry suggested, Sheila Fell was arguably the greatest landscape painter of her age.

Many of Sheila’s paintings are held in major public and private collections throughout the UK, including the Tate Gallery, Walker Art Gallery and in the Government Art Collection.

William G Bell 1928 - 2006

William G Bell was born in Barrow-in-Furness on April 20th 1928. Following the death of his mother when he was just ten, he was raised by his grandmother. Due to financial constraints, Bill left school at 14 and went to work at the then Vickers Shipyard in Barrow.

Always interested in drawing, Bill began experimenting with painting in his late teens, soon gaining an interest not in the nearby Lake District, but in the immediate world around him, be it working or leisure.

As a capstan operator and machine shop foreman, Bill had hands on experience of the industrial process. The variety of skills and the environment in which they were employed proved an endless source of inspiration. He was
fascinated by industry, having a lifelong interest in mining, shipbuilding, transport and heavy industries.

When away from Barrow, be it day trips or family holidays, Bill always sought out subjects to sketch for possible future paintings on his return home.
On a holiday to Glasgow for example, he journeyed to the Gorbals, to capture the unique architecture and atmosphere of the place. As with many of the
paintings in the exhibition, the painting of the Gorbals will be exhibited with the preparatory sketches completed on such a trip.

When back home in Barrow, Bill continued to be inspired by what he encountered every day; the shipyards, the pigeon pens, the back streets of Askam. All were a constant source of inspiration.

The shop floor at Vickers proved to be a somewhat fertile ground for young artists. Not only was Bill painting, whenever he could, what he saw about him, he was also working with a young apprentice, Keith Tyson, who was to later become a Turner Prize winner.

Bill had other interests. He was a talented engineer, an enthusiastic owner of three classic cars and an avid bibliophile. Painting was, however, his first love and abiding passion throughout his whole adult life.

Bill mostly worked in oils, occasionally in watercolour, pastel and charcoal. He was a founder member and President of the Barrow Society of Artists, a member of the Lakes Artists Society and was widely exhibited, from the 1950s until his death in 2006, including the Royal Academy London, the Royal Scottish Academy, Abbot Hall, the Harris Museum, Preston and the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. One of Bill’s paintings, Bath Time, chosen by L S Lowry, was even filmed for a BBC television programme in 1958.

Bill’s paintings are instantly recognisable. His subject matter displays little of the romanticism of many of those painting Cumbria, both then and now. At times, purposefully naive, always honest. Bill has left a legacy; a record of how life was in Cumbria and beyond from the 1950s onwards.