Dorothy Discovers the Emerald City

Like most children of my ear, I was intrigued by The Wizard of Oz during its annual presentation on our TV screen. This adventure provided the ultimate daydream for a young artist whose imagination yearned to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.”

To recreate my passion for Oz in visual form, I utilized my imagination to journey beyond what had been created for the original movie. As in this case with my Disney paintings, each Oz painting will be an attempt to capture the essence of the entire movie in a single emotionally-charged image. In the first Oz painting we see Dorothy and friends as they view the fabled Emerald City for the first time. The familiar cast of characters are here: Dorothy, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, as well as the Wicked Witch of the West, scary Winged Monkeys, and of course the Munchkins. We can even see Glenda the Good Witch floating in her transparent sphere of light – as though to bless the journey of the travelers.

Dorothy Discovers the Emerald City is a panorama of the great places from the film. Though while watching the entire movie, none of us can be entirely sure where the Wicked Witch’s Castle is located in relation to the Emerald City, I have placed it distinctly in the foreground suggesting a barren land that must be traversed to encounter the delights beyond. Like The Wizard of Oz film, my painting presents the raw emotions of myth and daydream as they collide with wondrous imagination.

For those collectors who are ready to engage my Oz Collection, rest assured that Dorothy Discovers the Emerald City is the starting point of an epic adventure in a land “over the rainbow.” I envision this painting as the first piece in what I will refer to as the Oz Octet, a collection of eight epic paintings intended to celebrate great moments from this classic film. The eight paintings in this collection will present a monumental challenge to my abilities as a storyteller and picture-maker. Yet like my Disney Dreams Collection, I expect this collection to flourish as collectors discover that each painting builds upon the next.