The Wizard of Oz

You never see this image from the climactic scene in the beloved Hollywood classic. In the actual film, it happens, but from behind and very quickly. My picture freezes the action and shows all the characters: Dorothy is throwing water to douse the fire consuming Scarecrow's arm. In the process, she inadvertently hits the witch in the face. That will be the end of her. The Tinman and the Cowardly Lion are looking on in horror as the winged monkey looks on with glee. Toto is occupied barking at the witch. We can only see the spears of the witch's palace guards. 

About the Artist

Gene Grubb - The Simple Things
Hi, my name is Gene Grubb and my business is called The Simple Things. To me, art is simply something that you like to look at and/or something that inspires you. My favorite artists are Monet, because I think most of his paintings are beautiful, the illustrator Norman Rockwell because both he and I prefer to depict the world the way we want it to be, and the filmmaker Frank Capra- in his heyday- because of his dogged belief that truth will prevail. These virtues- truth, humanity, innocence, and sweetness- seem to be getting harder to find, but they are there, and I believe, worth finding and accentuating.

I take photographs in my travels. Any nature picture that strikes me, I try to recreate faithfully, making sure to capture the essence of what it was- the composition, the color, the contrast, etc.- that struck me in the first place. As far as the pictures of children goes, I typically have to do some editing via Photoshop, for compositional purposes, but the main thing is to capture the kids' faces truthfully.

I received a Design Communication minor at Texas Tech University in 1981
(with 56 course hours in Art). There, I studied under Frank Cheatham, who studied under Saul Bass at the LA Center.

As far as professional artwork, I was the Artist-in-Residence at Liberty Elementary in Danielle, IL during the spring of 1996. I worked as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator at Jostens Yearbook from 1988-1992. I served as a Technical Illustrator at E-Systems (acquired by Raytheon) in Garland, TX from 1981-1988.