Screaming griffons, hippogriffs, thunderbirds, perytons, and mandrakes – an artist from the Newmarket area has made them all

A gryphon, with fluffy feathers protruding from powerful wings, guards the room, its yellow eyes fixed on something in the distance. Nearby, a hippogriff, with sharp claws that extend from its grayish-white plumage, defends its territory.

The eagle-lion and eagle-horse hybrids, along with other mythological creatures, have long been popularized by authors such as JK Rowling. But these particular beings (actually a fake taxidermy) are the creations of a 23-year-old artist from the Newmarket area.

It has been 20 years since Rowling’s Harry Potter first captivated film audiences around the world, and on this historic anniversary, Lara Whatley continues to be inspired by her magical universe. “It was part of my childhood,” she says.

At 13, he read the “Potter” books and fell in love with, he says, “characters who feel like real people you’ve met; the idea that mundane things like school, work, or exams can be infused with magic; that there can be more to life than just material. And, of course, (there is) the best story one can tell: light versus darkness, good versus unspeakable evil. ”

In her studio, converted from a dining room on her family’s 17-acre estate in rural Mount Albert, the mostly self-taught artist interprets not only Potter’s Wizarding World-inspired creatures (thunderbirds, screaming mandrakes). and house elves), but also those of legend (perytons, unicorns, the Loch Ness monster and the hippocampus) and the forest outside your home (foxes, fawns and bats).

“The fun part about legends is how they grow and evolve, how people and cultures are shaped by and become part of them,” says Whatley, who shares her creations on Instagram @whatleyswildlife. “I really enjoyed recreating these legends in my own style.”

Also a musician and author (he published his first fantasy novel, “The Last Pages,” at 14), Whatley began using pencils, crayons, and paintbrushes as soon as he could hold them up. As a family of creatives, his father is an amateur carpenter and his mother taught art, the Whatleys had all kinds of art supplies around the house.

In 2016, Whatley began working in mixed media, including clay, silicone, resin, synthetic leather, pencil, ink, and digital. After graduating from McMaster University in 2020 with a degree in commerce, he turned to art full-time and sold his work on Etsy.

Armed with her sketchbook and the Procreate digital painting app on her iPad, Whatley uses a variety of tools (needles, modelers, and brushes for clay; a vacuum degasser for silicone; and a dremel for resin parts) to bring life. to your ideas. Sometimes he says, “I do it without a clear idea in mind, and the piece comes to life on its own.”

“It’s hard being a new artist,” says Whatley, who works 60 hours a week. “Every hour I work brings me to a piece that may or may not sell quickly. Every hour that I don’t work is an hour that I could have created something. “

This dedication has paid off, as Whatley sold more than 100 pieces last year, shipping his work as far away as Europe and New Zealand. It’s no small feat, considering that most of these creations are large-scale and take 12-40 hours to complete (add paint drying and curing times and this could take weeks or months). The hippogriff, with its Articulated wings made from real feathers, each with its own wire, is one of its most complicated pieces and took more than four months to build. Prices for his work can be as high as $ 1,000 for a thunderbird made from hundreds of feathers.

The artist’s life has its share of challenges and heartaches, such as when the family cat destroyed a ravenous eight-inch clay baby a year after its creation process. Other times, the molds, which are used to reproduce original sculptures, can break after making a single copy. “I keep going as best I can when there are setbacks,” he says.

By the time he has finished and sold a piece, Whatley has spent so much time working on it that he feels as if he is saying goodbye to a friend. At the same time, she is delighted to be supported by a community that values ​​a shared sense of wonder. “I hope that each piece that I create allows someone to stop, wake up from an ordinary moment and remember that sense of wonder that came so naturally to us when we were children.”

His art, he says, always contains a bit of fantasy, whether he is doing something based on a real or fantastic animal. “‘Harry Potter’ and other incredible classics, like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, will always be dear to me,” he says, “at least as stories of a group of fictional friends that I have loved very much and with whom I have traveled. “

Whatey’s artistic journey of late has included a foray into bronze (he’s working on a series of bird sculptures), and he plans to make more dragons, another raptor, a phoenix, mothmen, fawnicorns, and a Jersey devil: “Many of the other legends that are familiar to us, as well as new additions of my own invention,” she says.

“There are many possibilities and I am open to all. The world, and especially the art world, is a wide place. “