BIG YIN IS ALL ART
BILLY UNVEILS CLYDESIDE-INSPIRED PRINTS AND SCULPTURES Comic’s homage to welders
SIR Billy Connolly has unveiled a new collection of his own art, including a sculpture inspired by his days as a shipyard welder.
Signed silkscreen prints of a dog, a wading bird and an angel are among those on sale, along with sculptures of hang gliders and welders.
Connolly admitted he was worried shipyard workers would hate his angel-like welder sculpture, And On Monday, God Made the World.
He said: “He means a lot to me because he is a welder. I’m a welder.
“I keep thinking what welders will think when they see it. Welders on the Clyde will love it, being an angel, being a god, because they already think they are prettymuch god like.
“It was really important to me to get it right.
“If I had made an arse of it and made welders look silly, they would hate me forever. “They’re like that, welders.” Connolly also announced plans for two new TV series looking back on his life and career.
Billy Connolly Does...the Decades, will be shown as two three-part specials on the Gold channel.
Connolly was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 and revealed in 2018 he was giving up stand-up to concentrate on art.
He turns 80 in November. The new collection, Making Life More Colourful, marks 10 years of his work with Castle Fine Art, which has galleries in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Prices start at £3000.
One work, Pink Tie & Hanky, depicts three well-dressed figures against a pink background.
Connolly said: “Life is bearable with colour. It’s lovely, it does the world such a favour.
“We used to go to Jackson the tailor to have our suits tailormade and pay them up.
“You ended up going in with a suit in tatters, still wearing it, to go in and pay for it.
“It was great. As I got richer as a welder, I got more suits.
“I had basket-weaved Winklepickers with a Cuban heel.
“I got on the bus in Drumchapel, where I used to live, and sat with my Eddie Fisher coat on and my Winklepicker shoes with white socks.
“An older woman sitting opposite me said, ‘You’re very neat about the feet’.
“I’ve never forgotten her.”