Two limited-edition pieces created

Two of Billy Connolly’s artworks have been recreated as stainless steel sculptures.

Just 195 copies have been made of Direction – which stands at 17 inches and costs £6,250 –  and Two for the Road, priced £5,500 and 13 inches.

They are being sold by Castle Fine Art, who say they reflect the 80-year-old comedian’s love of travel.

‘Two for the Road [above] looks like every band I was ever in,’ Connolly says. ‘I was never in a popular band, except The Humblebums, the band I was in with Gerry Rafferty.

‘The wee one in the picture is a melodeon player; melodeon players are weird; they know obscure things that nobody cares about. Melodeon players will go up to other melodeon players and say, "Is that a B18" and have incredibly dull conversations about melodeons with each other. They’re boring, but I find them incredibly interesting. 

‘I love people like that; I love people who go into music shops, not to buy anything, but they just love looking at banjos and fiddles and autoharps and all things musical that they find interesting, and he's one of them.’

"The big one is in charge. They're on the road and they’re doing gigs – they don’t do "engagements". And why are they naked? I don't know. I'd have to ask them sometime.

‘I love it because it reminds me of a joke which has stayed with me for years and I sometimes find myself sitting smiling because I think about it. 

‘Two guys like them turn up for a gig and they go down really well; I suppose it's a surprise to themselves. And after they've gone down well, the organiser of the gig comes up and says, "That was splendid, could you come back and do the same gig exactly a year from tonight?". And one of the guys says: "Oh yeah, that would be lovely". And he goes away but calls him back and says: "Excuse me. That was very nice of you to offer us the gig a year from tonight. So we were just thinking, would it be cool to leave the gear here?" And it's always made me laugh.’

‘In Direction, you have one person is leading or directing these two other persons. I don't know what they're doing or where they're going. But they're being led by this person. 

‘I don't know if it's a woman or a man - I think it's a woman because it looks like they’re in a dress. Following your mother through a shop when you hate shopping comes to mind. But that's not the way I work; I just draw them and they could be anything. It could be a kilt or something stuffed up it, so it’s up to the viewer to decide.’

Connolly  has just released a new volume of autobiography entitled Rambling Man: My Life on the Road, recalling his travels over the years, from being a musician to international jaunts making TV series.

Published: 3 Nov 2023