Sir Billy Connolly is one of the most popular artists at Castle Fine Art and the latest instalment of his Born on a Rainy Day collection will resonate even more deeply with everyone who loves Billy, because this release is so personal.
The six new colourful limited edition artworks include pieces which see him recalling his Glasgow childhood, living in the Scottish countryside and a bit of Scots history alongside an insight into his favourite hobby, fishing, as practised near his Florida home.
He also remembers visiting India for his episode of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are? and a visit to his Scottish home by his close friend, the late Robin Williams, so these latest releases see Billy revealing his personal stories in his art.
The pieces are ‘Step We Gaily’, ‘Wee Warrior with Targe’, ‘Extinct Scottish Cat’, ‘Permit From Memory’, ‘Baby Flier’ and ‘The Charmer’, and every limited edition piece is signed by Billy himself, priced £1,250 each or as a set of six at £6,250 framed, £4,950 unframed.
1. Step We Gaily
“It reminds me of a music teacher I used to have called Miss Silver. When I was about 13 or 14, she had musical appreciation days where she would play music and you would have to say what you thought of it. And she played us the Scottish song Mairi's Wedding. 'Step we gaily/On we go/Heel for heel and toe for toe/Arm in arm and row on row/All for Mairi's wedding’. He's doing the perfect move for stepping gaily. You can imagine him in little hall in the Highlands, dancing with a few others. There's a lot of that ‘step we gaily’ time on a Friday night in the Highlands, when there's people who’ve had too much to drink, dancing with nobody in particular."
2. Wee Warrior with Targe
“The Scots discovered if they could use the shield, the thing to do was to belt the enemy away with the targe and strike down with your sword, then come back and with your shield, just shuffle them away and plough your way through the enemy. This guy, though, he’s a jolly kind of fellow.’
3. Extinct Scottish Cat
“They're a wild animal, not a pussycat. I had a stuffed one, given to me by a man whose wife wouldn’t let him keep it in the house. I put him by the fireplace in the living room. Robin Williams was staying with us and started pretending to be the wildcat, talking in a Scottish accent and really getting into character. Someone came into the room and said: ‘What’s that?,’ and Robin made the exact noise of the cat and scared the life out of them. Robin was a genius.”
4. Permit From Memory
“A permit is a fish here in Florida, which haunts the waters where they're shallow,” says Billy, who has always loved fishing, particularly alongside his son Jamie. “He once caught a monster and I've got pictures of him holding it above his head. It was wonderful; it's lovely to be involved in something like that. Days like that are all part of the joy of going fishing, like drawing is one of the joys of my life. You're gonna sit down and do a few strokes and make something that never existed before and it's a joy. It's good for you and it's good for everybody.”