Graham Rawle

Friday night was the opening of the local exhibition of Graham Rawle's illustrations for The Wizard of Oz. The show is being held at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and features large prints of various illustrations from the book. Some of the images are over six feet wide, and are very impressive at that size! The prints were produced at the college, and unfortunately the show will not be traveling.

Oz Club member Jane Albright flew in for the opening, and club founding member Ruth Berman also attended. Graham Rawle signed books and was generally available to wander through the gallery and answer questions - it was a very fun time. Limited edition prints were available of four different scenes from the book, and four small pinback buttons were handed out. These feature Toto in the poppy field, Mr Joker from the Dainty China Country, a Quadling Guard, and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers from the Emerald City.

The gallery certainly got into the spirit of things by assembling a refresh- ment table of cupcakes that looked like the poppy field with a tall tornado traveling through. A plexi case held the actual figures of the main characters from the story - Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion and Wicked Witch of the West. Another case held some of the various tiny beaded flowers which were made by Graham's wife and used in the landscapes; it was a unique opportunity to see the small scale of the original pieces in comparison to the large photo illustrations on the walls.

The exhibit is on display until June 28th. If anyone happens to be in the area, I recommend it!
http://www.grahamrawle.com/index.html