nickkelly

artist/writer

About Me

Painting and writing have always been at the centre of my life. Having worked in broadcasting for more than forty years I am now a full-time artist and writer.

The House of Fortune

I lived and worked in Qatar for twenty three years. My historical novel follows a fictional Qatari family as they face hardships of pearl-diving in the 1920s through colonial times, the discovery of oil and independence in the 1970s. I have almost finished the sequel - Single Man, Dancing Alone - which continues the story until the present day.

Open Spaces, Secret Places

A collection of works painted in the last five years as part of an exhibition with Liz Shedden at The Horsebridge, Whitstable on 21st July 2021 for two weeks

https://thehorsebridge.org.uk/whats_on/galleries/open-spaces-secret-places

Kitesurfers, Whitstable

75 x 45cm
£475
SOLD

Empty House, Al Mafjar

100x120cm

POA

Al Mafjar is an abandoned village on the north east coast of the Qatar peninsula. My novel 'The House of Fortune' begins in the village, when pearl-diving families lived there in the 1920s.

I chose to paint this particular house as I like the forms of the building and spaces against the backdrop of the sand and sea. It is a reminder of a simpler life now gone for good.

Sunday Morning, Dungeness

120 x 100 cm
£895

Shallow Water, Whitstable

120 x 100cm
£895

Coming Home

70 x 50cm
£350

Paddlers, Tankerton

70 x 50cm
£425

Single Man,
Dancing Alone

I painted this for the book cover of Single Man, Dancing Alone which will be out later in 2021. It follows on from my previous book'The House of Fortune.' Although it is a novel it is semi-autobiographical based on the time I worked in the Middle East, notably Qatar from 1975 to 2000. The novel extends from that period until the present day.

POA