Glinda Good Witch Of The South

Inspiration

rowing up, I shared a bedroom with my twin sister Claudia. The floor of our bedroom was tiled with large 16” by 16” square yellow tiles. Those yellow tiles served many purposes. But the most important one of all, was being our own yellow-brick-road! We pretended to be Dorothy as we skipped across the bedroom following the yellow-brick-road. I remember, in the evenings after brushing my teeth, following my own yellow-brick-road, from the bathroom until I would reach my bed. I would crawl in bed, close my eyes, and imagine having reached the Emerald City. It was then when mom, with her Glinda tenderness, would come to kiss us goodnight.

And it was at that moment, after the sweet kiss of my own Glinda had warmed my forehead, when my dreams would take over, transporting me to the magical world of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And in my dreams, I would meet Glinda, the good Witch of the South with her bright-red hair and her Golden Cap. And I would dream multiple adventures with Glinda by my side, protecting me all along. Until the next day, when I would trace back my steps into the bathroom, and into an ordinary world where there was only room for yellow tiles, and none for yellow-brick-roads or Glinda, the good Witch of the South.

Glinda Good Witch of the South Ornament Design Process

L. Frank Baum in his book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, describes Glinda, the good Witch of The South, as “both beautiful and young to their eyes.” In other explanations, Glinda is described as “a beautiful woman, who knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived.” So, I painted her face with youthful features. Baum goes on to tell us that “her eyes were blue, and they looked kindly upon the little girl,” Dorothy. So, I gave her royal blue eyes that express only love.

Baum describes her hair as being of “a rich red in color” that “fell in flowing ringlets over her shoulders.” So, I found thin red embroidery yarn to make her hair. To achieve the ringlet effect, I braided the red yarn, washed the braids in hot water, and finally dried them using the dryer’s hottest setting. Then, I tied the hair in two long pigtails that stream down on either side of her youthful face.

“Her dress was pure white,” Baum says. So, I used a very fine white cotton mousseline for her dress. The mousseline was embroidered with a leafy vine pattern. Under the dress, I added white tulle as the petticoat. I trimmed the skirt with a white lace. In several of the original book’s illustrations, Glinda’s dress has hearts edging her dress. So, I hand-embroidered red beads along the edge of the dress, so as to resemble hearts and the red rubies on her throne. To complete the dress, I added a sash around her waist with a big bow that has hearts dangling from each of its legs.

Based on the original illustrations in the first Wizard of Oz book, Glinda’s crown is very delicate, like filigree. This crown is very different from the tall one that was made famous by the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. Making Glinda’s delicate crown was the hardest part of this design. I remember consulting with my mom, as I tried to engineer the creation of Glinda’s crown. I end up using a thin white trim, white fabric covered jewelry wire, and red and white beads to make the crown. The result was an ethereal crown that contrasted against Glinda’s bright red hair, quite worthy of the queen of the Land of the South.

Unlike Dorothy, Cowardly Lion, Tin Woodman, Scarecrow and Toto, who are standing on a yellow base representing the yellow-brick-road, Glinda’s base is brown. I wanted to make the distinction between the characters who had journeyed to Oz from the rest of the characters.