Harry Potter artist loses £100,000 of artwork in studio blaze

THE artist behind the talking portraits in the Harry Potter films has had more than £100,000 worth of his work destroyed by fire at his Cotswolds studio.

Steve Mitchell, 66, has been an industry veteran for decades and worked on paintings for several hit franchises including Star Wars and James Bond.

He was devastated to learn that a blaze had ripped through his working space at Cotswold Camping in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, earlier this month - causing huge damage.

Steve works at the isolated spot when not attached to a movie, and wasn’t there at the time of the fire on September 10.

He has now been left to count the cost, which he estimates could be more than £100,000, and has no insurance to fall back on.

Steve said: “I was working in London and got a call telling me what was happening. I had no idea whether it would be minor damage.

“My wife took some photos and it didn’t look too bad, but there was smoke and water damage, and the paint had blistered and cooked, changing the colours.

“Just about everything was lost, all my paintings from the last nine years, with 18 pictures in total completely destroyed.

“A couple that were on the floor on easels managed to get rescued by the fire brigade.

“However, everything on the mezzanine floor was completely destroyed.

“It’s a minimum of £100,000 worth of damage, in terms of the gallery prices.

“It’s all a complete write-off. I had no insurance, as it was difficult to get, as it’s such an isolated spot.”