12 x 12 inches, acrylic on gessoed mounted aluminium panel
painting #298, 2024 - black floater frame
I first discovered the Harry Potter books through the Rosie O'Donnell Show in the late 1990's. Rosie was a fanatic from the get go and promoted not only the books, but its author J.K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling), the film series that followed and its stars. I started buying the books at Costco not long after, and anticipating each new releases which totalled seven in the series. Each new book became an event with people lining outside book stores for hours if not days before its release. I read the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone during the month of November/December 2000.
A great author has a way of keeping the reader engaged. J.K. Rowling's creative story telling, imagination and the whole fantasy world she created just sparked my imagination and painted every scene in my head with details and wonderment. When the films started coming out, I was awestruck by how they were able to recreate that whole world on celluloid.
Much like the books series that broke sale records, the blockbuster motion pictures were equally on par as a cultural phenomenon. Not to mention all of the derived commercial products associated with this franchise that are still being produced for their legions of fans. The seven books has been translated in over 80 languages and sold in excess of 520 millions copies. On a 1,2 billion dollar budget, the movie franchise comprising of eight films has made a whopping 7,7 billion dollars at the box office. The films which stared then newcomers Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) were surrounded by a stellar cast of the most celebrated British actors including Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Harris, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Imelda Stanton, John Hurt, Kenneth Branagh and many more.
Platform 9¾, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (movie scene)
I ended reading five of the seven books. The only reason why I didn't read the last two was because I had changed jobs and devoted less time for reading. Not because they weren't captivating.
When the first film was released, it became the highest-grossing film of 2001 and the second-highest-grossing film of all-time after The Titanic. My son Jean-Luc's childhood revolved around LEGOS. When he was six years old, he asked Santa for the Hogwarts Castle for Christmas. Harry Potter Lego sets started coming out during the release of the first film. He had seen it at Costco so when he found it under the tree on Christmas morning, he was as surprised as I was. We spend that whole morning setting it up. Jean-Luc has a very creative imagination, so it wasn't long until he dismantled it and elaborated other versions combining other Lego sets from his collection.
Jean-Luc with his re-invented Hogwarts Castle, 2002 (age 6 or 7)
In 2010, when Jean-Luc was 15 years old, we visited London and did a few day trips in England. He is still to this day a big supporter of Chelsea Football Club. While we weren't lucky enough to get tickets to see them play a soccer game, we did go on a tour of Stamford Bridge, the stadium where they play. However, we were fortunate to attend a match when Manchester City was visiting West Ham F.C.
During one of our day trips, we visited the campus of Oxford University. Christ Church College provided the location for many Harry Potter scenes. The staircase below was used to film the famous entrance scene where Professor McGonagall meets Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Oxford University, May 2010
The staircase then leads up to the Tudor Great Dining Hall which served as inspiration for the great Hogwarts Dining Hall. The hallways of Christ Church were also used to film the scene in which Hermione shows Harry the Quidditch trophy his late father had won.
Oxford University, May 2010
Fast forward 2019, when Jean-Luc was 24, he and I hiked the Portuguese Way on the Camino from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Our 10 day walking trek covered 240 km. Before departing, we visited Porto for two days. JK Rowling lived in Porto from 1991-1993, where she wrote the first three chapters of the first Harry Potter book. The famous Livraria Lello's bookstore's interior is rumored to have inspired the book shop Flourish and Blotts in Daigon Alley for the serial.
My son Jean-Luc, Porto, July 2019.
Signed by JK Rowling, Livraria Lello bookstore, Porto, July 2019.
Back in 2001, Jean-Luc was collecting Harry Potter trading cards which was part of a card game. I would later incorporate some of these in a painting entitled "Trading Cards".
Trading Cards, 16 x 12", acrylic, painting #64, 2004
This current painting, "Platform 9¾, the Portal to Hogwarts" has been on the backburner for more than 10 years. I initially did of a photo study session back in 2013, but somehow felt the time wasn't right to paint it until now.
Last month, Jean-Luc, now 29 got married to his sweetheart Jessica. Even the rain could not dampen that day. They exchanged vows in a small garden wedding on her father's property. Many of their close friends had small roles in making it the most memorable wedding that I've attended. I even pitched in by making the wedding cake and cupcakes. This painting seemed like a perfect wedding gift for them both. Jessica is also a fan of the Harry Potter series and is currently reading the books. Jean-Luc recently mentioned that they've watched the films numerous times on DVD since they've been together. I'm happy that this painting will remain in the family since Harry Potter is linked to my son since childhood and continues to follow him in his adult life with his wife.
Jean-Luc and Jessica's Wedding, Sept. 2024
I had acquired the Harry Potter glasses more than a decade ago as a prop for the composition. All seven books do appear in my painting. These were published by Bloomsbury/ Raincoast in Canada, sharing the same artwork on their book covers as the UK editions. In the US, the books were published by Scholastic with completely different artwork.
The art cover for the first book for Bloomsbury was a pencil/watercolour by illustrator Thomas Taylor showing Harry boarding the Hogwarts Express. The following books in the series featured more fantasy styled artwork created by Cliff Wright (books 2 & 3), Giles Greenfield (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Jason Cockroft (last three books).
Illustrations and studies for Harry Potter by Giles Greenfield.
I completed this painting on September 27. Later that same day, I was sadden to learned that Maggie Smith, who played the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall in film series had died at the age of 89. Of course she is also known for her scene stealing, multi-award winning role of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the British period drama Downton Abbey.
-Private Collection
