Purple Prince

I've been hunkered down in the studio finishing up a couple of custom pieces. This handsome fellow was inspired by a family favorite, The Purple Prince of Oz in which Prince Randy has to fulfill these seven requirements to become king:

1. make three true friends
2. serve a strange king
3. save a queen
4. show bravery in battle
5. overcome a fabulous monster
6. disenchant a princess
7. receive an important magical treasure from a wizard

Puppet Master

Puppet Master, original collage on scribbled book cover

Two years ago Patrick and Lizzie were well into their Oz adventures. This week they are finishing up the 47th book in the series, Trouble Under Oz. It has been a fantastical journey and even though I don't sit in on the nightly readings there has been a bit of Oz seeping into my own work. I've dubbed it Oz-mosis ;)

The Oz Adventures

Last night Patrick and Lizzie finished reading the 14th book of the original series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They had begun the series this past summer and have continued reading a few chapters together every night. Today was Patrick's birthday and we celebrated with a fitting journey to the Oz Museum. They've now decided they will delve into more Oz adventures by reading the additional canonical books which I believe total a whopping 40+ volumes (thank goodness for Amazon Prime!).

And to Patrick....I just want to say thank you for instilling such a love of reading and adventure in our girl....Happy Birthday!

Our Dorothy Gale

The Oz Museum

After living in Kansas for two years we decided it was high time to visit the Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas. It is quaint museum, chock-full of memorabilia from the movie and collectibles galore. I certainly enjoyed the museum as my mother had read all of L. Frank Baum's original 14 Oz books out loud to my siblings and me when we were kids. I'm still trying to decide if I want to tackle this same task with Lizzie! We're currently wading through Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Farm. Happy Monday!