BORN ON A RAINY DAY
BILLY CONNOLLY
The irrepressible Billy Connolly returns with the 12th instalment of his Born on a Rainy Day collection for Castle Fine Art, and it’s bound to delight anyone who’s ever found themselves agreeing with the hilarious world-view of the Scots comedian, musician, writer, actor and artist. Billy’s first Born on a Rainy Day works were launched in 2012, after he took up drawing whilst on tour in Canada, and twelve years later, he is still busy creating works at his studio in the Florida Keys. After a hugely successful career as a performer, he’s still finding a sense of wonder at the incredible success of his art. “It's a strange position to find myself in, as for 50 years I've been confident in my comedy, then
suddenly, along comes this thing and I'm not confident in it because it's somebody else's field. But I'm getting used to people liking it,” he says. The first limited edition works for 2024 are personal to Billy, who is remembering life in Scotland, his world travels, and telling us about his current life in Florida in the pieces. These are ‘Step We Gaily’, ‘Wee Warrior with Targe’, ‘Extinct Scottish Cat’, ‘Permit from Memory’, ‘Baby Flier’ and ‘The Charmer’. Billy Connolly’s latest pieces will undoubtedly prove popular with long-standing collectors and new ones alike, who will enjoy the moments from his life that he’s sharing with the world in the new Born on a Rainy Day works.
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This is Billy’s portrait of a fighter with a Scottish shield, a targe. “He should have a sword in that hand. That doesn't matter. He's a real warrior... he punches people. I'm very fond of it. It's a friendly fellow.”
Wee Warrior With Targe
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 57 x 77cm | Framed size 65 x 85cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
“Now, he's obviously a snake charmer but that's not what he started out as. He started out to be a guy sitting there and I thought 'Oh, he's an Indian snake charmer' and stuck the snake in and then the snake became a woman. it's all part of spending too much time in your own!”
The Charmer
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 77 x 57cm | Framed size 85 x 65cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
This is Billy’s tribute to the Scottish Wildcat. “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 he nearly shit himself. Robin was a genius.”
Extinct Scottish Cat
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 77 x 57cm | Framed size 85 x 65cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
“It’s my own little language and I enjoy it and happily, other people seem to enjoy it too”. – BILLY CONNOLLY
Featured Artwork Extinct Scottish Cat, The Charmer
“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.”
Permit From Memory
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 77 x 57cm | Framed size 85 x 65cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
“This 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’.”
Step We Gaily
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 57 x 77cm | Framed size 65 x 85cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
‘Baby Flier’ is an angelic baby with wings. “The 'flyer' came second, the wings were an afterthought. He looked a bit lonely with no wings. Babies look as if they should fly or float; they have a holiness about them,” says Billy.
Baby Flier
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Paper size 77 x 57cm | Framed size 85 x 65cm Edition of 295 | Framed £1,250
Born On A Rainy Day Spring 2024 Set of Six
Double Hit Flatbed Giclée Print on 100% Cotton Aquarelle Arches - Torchon 300gsm Unframed £4,950 | Framed £6,750
Biography
Sir Billy Connolly [B.1942, Glasgow]
Sir William “Billy” Connolly, CBE is an award-winning Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin (The Big One). His first trade, in the early 1960s, was as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer. His career as a comedian and actor took off in the 1970s and he went on to appear in over 50 films, including Quartet (2012), The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies (2014), Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), The Last Samurai (2003), Still Crazy (1998) and Mrs. Brown (1997). It was on a rainy day in 2007 that Billy first embarked on his artistic journey. Taking refuge from the grey drizzle of Montreal, Canada, he entered an art shop with a twinkling curiosity and left with an armful of supplies and the urge to create. Over the next five years, his felt-tip drawings evolved into his debut fine art collection, Born on a Rainy Day , which has enjoyed many successful releases since its launch in 2012.
2001 Awarded an honorary doctorate from University of Glasgow 2002 Presented with a Special Award by British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2003 Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2006 Awarded an honorary doctorate from Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama 2010 Awarded an honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent University 2010 Made a Freeman of Glasgow with the award of the Freedom of the City of Glasgow 2012 Presented with the Outstanding Contribution Award by BAFTA Scotland
2016 Presented with National Television Awards (NTA) Special Recognition Award 2017 Received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2021 Presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Edinburgh TV Festival; releases autobiography Windswept & Interesting 2022 Presented with the BAFTA Fellowship. Awarded annually, the Fellowship is the highest accolade BAFTA can bestow on any one figure, recognising an exceptional contribution to film, television or games 2023 Publishes Rambling Man: My Life on the Road , a memoir of his touring career
The images contained within this literature are an artistic representation of the collection. To best experience our art, we recommend you contact your local gallery to arrange a viewing. © Washington Green 2024. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission.
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