John Kelt Edwards was born on 4th March 1875 one of 6 children to Jonathan and Margaret Edwards who kept an Ironmongers Shop called Berlin House in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
He showed a desire and ability to draw very early on. After a short period at the local Primary School, he was sent to Llandovery College, Llanymddyfri. Then to Beaumont School on the Isle of Jersey.
He returned to Blaenau aged 16 with the intention of following a drawing course and developing his talent. In 1902 when he was 27 years old, he studied at the British Academy of Arts in Rome. While in Italy he became sufficiently proficient in French, Italian and German. He received high praise from his teachers at Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris and was very popular. After spending a few years on the continent, Kelt Edwards settled in London, but Berlin House money was still supporting him.
There is no doubt that his pictures are of a high standard, and that he had great talent - but his pictures did not get the reception he would have wanted, and he did not succeed in persuading those with influence to give him the commissions that an artist like him needed in order to be successful.
It is said that, in order for him to be successful, Lady Llanofer suggested that he should adopt the name Kelt as John Edwards was too common a name.
He took pictures of celebrities such as David Lloyd George, his daughter Lady Megan Lloyd George, and Sir O.M.Edwards. But even then, he did not manage to get the support he needed in order to be recognised.
Although he produced a large number of pictures, not that much of his work is available today. There are some examples in The National Library in Aberystwyth.
Some charcoal portraits are available such as the picture of Hedd Wyn, the Bard of the Black Chair. Also a picture of Elfyn, R.O.Hughes the cathedral poet of the Blaenau Ffestiniog National Eisteddfod 1898.
Also, photos of Bryfdir, poet and eisteddfodwr, and Robert Griffith, a local character.
There is a charcoal photo of his cousin Bessie Davies. Also a photo of Mrs Nellie Bell - Talsarnau Post Shop when she was young. A picture she thought highly of.
There are also examples of formal pictures where he may have taken them at one of the drawing schools on the continent. In addition, there are finished pictures / portraits – a man sitting and an oil portrait of his mother.
There is also a skilful portrait in watercolour, a picture of the Reverend Enoch Ellis Jones, and a pen and ink drawing of his mother. Among the portraits is one of William Owen Jones which can be seen in The National Museum and a portrait of "Anonymous" in oil.
He showed a special ability to create detailed works in the form of book plates. This is the Edward T John Plas Llanidan bookplate in Anglesey. He contributed to "Cymru" and "Cymru r Plant" and here are examples of several covers he produced:
The Child Leader- The Essayist
- The Vineyard - very detailed work
- Shepherd's Poems - Hedd Wyn
- Front page of D R Jones book
- His girlfriend Pauline Taylor's bookplate
Over the years he worked in several mediums - in pencil; in coke; in watercolour; in pen and ink and in oil. A few views are still available today:
Pen and ink drawings for Sir O.M.Edwards in "Cymru" magazine- Huw Llwyd pulpit in Afon Cynfal, Llan Ffestiniog
- An old mill in the 'Stiniog area
- Little Neuadd Ddu near 'Stiniog
- Rhiannon's picture of the Mabinogion
- A view of the town of Blaenau ffestiniog
- Llennyrch Gorge Black Waterfall
- A view of Venice
Kelt Edwards spent the last years of his life in Cei Newydd, Llandecwyn near Talsarnau. He would go on his bicycle to Talsarnau to collect his paper daily, and he was a popular person, although a little eccentric. Here are some Kelt Edwards pen and ink prints of himself.
- A photograph of him imitating a famous comedian of his time - Dan Lenno.
- The family picture and he is the only boy.
- A rare picture of him painting.
- A photograph of him as a young man.
- Pin and ink self portrait
His design of the Corwen National Eisteddfod Chair and a photo of him and the chair's carpenter Elias Davies
Kelt in Yr Orsedd uniform in 1919- Kelt and his nephew Clifford Jones
The artist's grave can be seen in Bethesda Chapel cemetery not far from Ysgol Gynradd Manod, Blaenau Ffestiniog.