Chihuly

Isn't this beautiful?  This is just one of thousands of sculptures by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly [chi-HOO-lee].  I discovered his work a couple of years ago and have become fascinated with it ever since!  He's a Northwesterner, like myself, having been born in Tacoma, Washington.

I was visiting Tacoma a couple of years ago and stumbled upon (thankfully I didn't stumble into, as klutzy as I am!) a large collection of his glass artwork, featured in a couple of museums there.

I was hooked.

His blown glass art is so unique and recognizable, if I see it anywhere, I know it immediately.  I was pleasantly surprised to run across several of his pieces while walking through a hotel in Las Vegas last year.  I hadn't seen anything of his in person since Tacoma, the year before.  To me it was like finding a rare and hidden gem.  It was as exciting to me as if I had spotted a celebrity!  Of course, I snapped some pics!

This morning I wasn't feeling well, so I was enjoying some downtime in front of the telly (keep reading--you'll understand soon).  I was looking through the channel guide to see if there was anything interesting on, when the name 'Chihuly' jumped out at me.  Ovation channel was showing a couple of documentaries on exhibits that Dale Chihuly had done in the last decade.

I was riveted.

The first doc was about an exhibit he did at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey, UK (hence, the prior use of the word 'telly'!).  The other special was featuring an exhibition in Jerusalem.   Both shows had behind-the-scenes looks at the creative process of his masterpieces.  Not only does his artwork have a uniquely stylistic look, but even how he creates it is unique in that he employs teams of people to help in it's creation.  I truly enjoyed watching how they assembled the structures piece by piece.

Please click on this link to go to his official website for more information on Dale Chihuly, but especially to look at more of his amazing artwork.  He has a very eclectic collection of pieces.  The picture above is only one style.

I find his art both beautiful and fascinating.  I love the interesting shapes and bright colors.  His work can be both serenely peaceful and exhilarating, all at once.  I know you'll totally love looking at the pictures.

However... there's nothing like viewing it in person.

I just wish I could afford some of my own!

Nevermind... my children would just destroy it.

It is glass, after all.

Oh well, guess I'll just make it my life's goal to travel to as many exhibits of his, before I die, as I can.  In fact, I'm planning to go see another of his sculptures very soon...

I just discovered online today that Chihuly has a chandelier on display at the small, non-commercial, Hillsboro Airport, minutes from my house!

Next time I make a Costco run, I'm gonna stop in there for some artistic enlightment on my way to buy another stockpile of toilet paper.

Hey, we mom's gotta get our enlightenment any way we can...