Over the last six years Scottish artist, Stuart McAlpine Miller, has been working on his latest collection Revelations: A Portrait of Magic, featuring fine art interpretations of pop culture favourite, Harry Potter and has raised more than £200,000 for charity Lumos.
In 2016, the Suffolk-based illusionary artist, set out on a project to create the first (- and only) series of fine art paintings of Harry Potter characters, consisting of 11 original paintings and limited edition prints. Stuart has long admired the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling as a cultural phenomenon, iconic and inspiring for so many generations. His own work is renowned for its interpretative response to popular and cultural icons from current and past times so the project presented a good partnership.
“I wanted to support the children’s charity Lumos in this project because it is about keeping families together, even in the face of war or poverty and keeping children out of harmful orphanages. I absolutely connect to the cause; I don’t think I’d be a human being if I didn’t connect to that. It’s a fantastic charity. It’s difficult for us to even start to understand the situation many children in Ukraine, for example, are going through. We live in a very vulnerable situation as far as the world is concerned. Children need to be looked after, cared for and considered.”
This project attempts to convey the powerful and immemorial message of ‘good against evil’, whilst simultaneously challenges whether such a polarised dichotomy can indeed exist.
Stuart explains: “I don’t use layers as such – I use the illusion of colour and tone and light in order to create the illusion of transparency and layers. Because of how I put my work together I could paint a whole almost screen-sized history within one painting. There is a multitude of layers in each of my paintings and there are many ideas – some obvious and some themes merely suggested.”
“I want to encourage young artists to follow their dream,” Stuart says “If you are really excited about painting or drawing, don’t worry about the future. Just focus on developing your art and your skill. We can all become better. Keep practising and don’t give up – don’t ever give up!”
Peter McDermott, CEO Lumos, comments:
“We are so thankful to Stuart and the teams at Castle Fine Art and Zeno Fine Art for the generous donations created by this wonderful collection.
Since 2009 we’ve helped over 31,500 children, changing the lives of those who were set to enter, or were already living in harmful institutions or orphanages. Without regular donations, we are unable to create programmes which help families across the globe, so this partnership will help us to continue the vital work we’re doing.”
14% of the net sale price of the original paintings and 10% of the net sale price of the limited editions is donated to Lumos. The total donated to Lumos so far is £124,674 from Zeno Fine Art and £84,583 from Castle Fine Art. Zeno Fine Art has also offered to donate editions to Lumos’s upcoming New York Gala for further fundraising.
Whilst there are no prints left to purchase, there are a limited number of the original paintings available from Castle Fine Art.
Notes to Editor
Lumos
The Lumos Foundation is an international charity that fights for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world. The charity was set up by J.K. Rowling.
14% of the sale price net of VAT of every original painting and 10% of the sale price, net of VAT, of all limited editon prints is donated to Lumos and go towards their mission of helping all children to grow up in a safe and loving home.
Zeno Fine Art will be donating a percentage of each limited edition print’s sale price to the Lumos Foundation, a charity that fights for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world. Lumos is striving for a future where every child is raised in a safe, loving home, supported by family to help them thrive.
Zeno Fine Art
020 7907 5788
Artworks in this collection:
A Complex Nature (Harry Potter)
Hypnotic Reveal (Prof. Severus Snape)
Split Personality (Hermione Granger)
The Tower (Harry Potter)
Where the Darkness Resides (Ron Weasley)
From the Evil Within (Draco Malfoy)
The Hand of Wisdom (Prof. Albus Dumbledore)
The Birth of Hope (Hermione Granger)
Spellbound in Motion (Bellatrix Lestrange)
Towards a Powerful Conclusion (Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley)
Strength in Numbers (Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley)
Castle Fine Art is a subsidiary of Washington Green Fine Art, the UK’s leading group of retail art galleries and will be donating a percentage of each painting’s sale price to Lumos.
Founded in 1995, it now boasts a nationwide network of 39 galleries located in accessible, high-street destinations – its ethos is encapsulated in its motto: Your World, Our Art. www.castlefineart.com