A week before heading for my country of origin, the Netherlands in 2024, I stumbled upon a nice challenge by my favourite Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. I have used his materials for some personal comic relief since I discovered him a good 25 years ago. I then lived in Australia and was watching some daytime television, when I saw a performance that truly made me pee myself with laughter. I explored his work after that and have been ‘his number one fan’ ever since.
Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease some years back and due to the limitations that were connected to this condition, he had to give up his much loved live performances. He always was a doodler, and when he was no longer on stage, that transitioned into real artistry. His work is shown in many reputable galleries. I was fortunate to catch Billy’s last tour in Toronto, and first cried with joy seeing him perform and then sobbed with grief over his being so sick.
I follow his Facebook page and, going back to the start of this story, saw a call for artists to show him their work. It had to be accompanied by a personal question. If his team deigned both worthy to be shown to Billy, he would answer the question on tape and also give the artwork a personal mention on his Facebook page.
Well, that was a challenge I was not going to miss! After some thinking, I decided to paint a portrait of Billy, rather than enter another piece of my own art. I reckoned that most artists would send him different artworks and not a portrait with a good likeness. And that was exactly what I was after. It would for sure be presented to him if I could also think of a good question.
I decided to steer clear of serious artistic queries but in stead ask a more peculiar one.
Billy, or rather: Sir Billy Connolly was always famous for the frequent changes to his appearance. Sometimes he was clean-shaven and it would mostly be for a film he was taping. But then he would appear on stage with a beard reminding me of Mozes. And anything in between. So… my question to him was: “How long does it take you to grow a full beard?”
Sure enough, both my portrait and my question were selected and Billy commented on it on his Facebook, a couple of months later. I was elated!
Billy and I had shared some footsteps in Australia, where his wife is from, and in Bermuda, where he liked to vacation. He already had my heart because of his comedy, but seeing what a humble and warm personality he demonstrates when you run into him made me love him even more. So…. this portrait is not for sale, because I am contemplating sending it to him. And if I decide to keep it for myself, it will be a nice reminder of this wonderful story!
Billy’s audio comments on Facebook can be heard and see here on my blog:
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