After All This Time? - original upcycled vintage art

“Always.” —Severus Snape

This winter landscape immediately made me think of the scene where Harry is lead by a magical doe through the woods to a lake where there was hidden the Sword of Griffindor. 

What I loved about this scene was discovering later the secret devotion Severus Snape still had towards Lily Potter within him. That love compelled him to steal the sword, then hide it where Harry would find it... then send his own personal patronus, a doe, (the same as Harry's mother's) to draw Harry towards his destiny.

I’ve called it “After All This Time,” as a nod to Dumbledore being surprised when discovering Snape’s patronus was still a doe, and that he still keenly held onto his love for Lily Potter. 

The vintage painting on board was collected locally in Ontario.  The painting itself was in good condition, but the vintage frame was terribly beaten up! My Dad had a great time creating molds to create replacement plaster, then lovingly gluing and filling them in. I then had fun restoring most of the pieces to their natural state... but experimented with an idea I had for a few patches...

I love the art of kintsugi, where you take broken pottery and rather than repair and camouflage the imperfections, you paint the damaged areas gold to draw attention to the  journey it has been through. I wanted to do a magical take on kintsugi, by painting some of the repaired areas in the same glowing manner the doe does. As if bits of their magical world are leeching through the frame itself as the doe has been conjured and appeared in the painting.

(Now I know not everyone will be into this frame alteration, so if you love the painting but would prefer the frame to be natural, I would be happy to paint those areas in the natural frame colour as I have everywhere else. Just let me know after collecting the piece and I'll sort it for you!)

“After All This Time?” 
altered painting by Heather Castles

45 x 60cm (18 x 24 inch) vintage painting on board

64 x 78 cm (25 x 30.5 inch) vintage wood frame