by Artist Jim Moir – best known as award-winning presenter and comedian Vic Reeves – has opened a new exhibition.
Moir, who grew up in Darlington, exhibits a collection of drawings and paintings at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle.
The show, titled Hot Buttered Mattress, features a range of ornithological works and Moir’s Bird Color Wheel.
“Birds are what I love,” he said.
“I always think, paint what you know and what you love, and it will come out better.”
As Vic Reeves, Mr. Moir has worked with Bob Mortimer on shows such as Shooting Stars and Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out.
The artist has also published books of his art and has held exhibitions at venues such as the Saatchi Gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery in London.
His new Sky Arts show, Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir, is scheduled to air later this year.
Moir said the title of the exhibition was “the first thing that came to mind”.
“Don’t ask me what that means, because I don’t know,” he said, laughing.
His love of observing and drawing birds lasted throughout his life, but now he can paint them more often.
“When I was a kid growing up not too far from here in Darlington, that’s what I used to do when I wasn’t in school — I would look at birds and draw birds,” he said.
“Now I’m 64 and I’m painting birds with all my might again.
“I get up around 6 a.m. and go to my studio full of energy.
“I go to bed looking forward to what I’m going to paint the next day and get up in the morning excited and moving on.”
Calculating the triangle and circle measurements for the quadrants of his color circles was “the only time I’ve ever used math in my life,” he added, laughing again.
Moir said he tried to give the show “a Northeastern flavor” and paint more on Holy Island, “but the weather was bad.”
For the Lindisfarne Curlew, he “just splattered a lot of ink on it,” he added.
“When you take pictures like that, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and that worked.”
Moir’s previous show at the Biscuit Factory, Mountain of Turkish Delight, sold out.
General Manager Rachel Brown said the gallery was “delighted” to welcome him back.
“It’s a privilege to be the only place in the Northeast to showcase Jim’s work. It’s a pleasure to see various elements of his practice unfold over the years that we’ve worked with him,” she said.
The sales exhibition runs until April 2nd.
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