A Break from Hiking… The Magic of Chihuly: Part 3

The Chihuly exhibit at the Seattle Center includes a number of smaller blown glass pieces including these shown above.

While I normally picture large glass sculptures when I think of Chihuly, he also has a number of smaller pieces on display at the Seattle Center exhibit. The gift shop actually has several for sale. Had I had an extra six or seven thousand dollars lying around, I would have brought one home.

This photo of a younger Chihuly at the Seattle Center, shows Chihuly working on one of his larger pieces. The paddles are used to shape the still fluid glass while his assistant turns the sculpture that is affixed to the pipe used to blow the glass. The expression on the face of the assistant suggests the weight of the sculpture.

Peggy really liked the nesting glass sculptures.

Another example.

And another. The pine shelving really served to emphasize the beauty of these pieces. This was my favorite among this type of nesting bowls.

Several more nesting bowls of a different type were for sale in the gift shop.

Chihuly had a fascination with Native American crafts including baskets and blankets. A number of pieces were shown with Indian baskets including the three below.

Chihuly’s interest in ocean creatures led to a realistic depiction of sea creatures in glass.

Squid…

Sea turtles…

An octopus…

Hermit crabs.

And eels.

I’ll conclude my Seattle Center Chihuly series with several more colorful and creative sculptures from the gift shop.

NEXT POST: It’s back to the Pacific Crest Trail with a hike through the Desolation Wilderness.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

23 thoughts on “A Break from Hiking… The Magic of Chihuly: Part 3

  1. I saw the Dali Museum and the James Western Museum today and do not think I have the wear-with-all to get back into St. Petersburg for the Glass Museum – I’ll count your post as a visit to it!! Plus, I don’t have a spare grand or two lying around either!! 🙂

  2. Believe it or not, the next-to-last photo of the gold-trimmed green bowl looks remarkably like one I gave my mother for Christmas in c. 1960. I bought it at Nollen’s Drugs and Gifts on the downtown square, and I’d still have it, had she not given it to one of her friends when she was dispersing ‘stuff.’ Granted, it wasn’t Chihuly-level glass, but the design and color were as pleasing to the eye.

    I confess to not finding these pieces as appealing as some of his other work. I have no explanation for that, but some of my associations with specific pieces are wackier than usual. (Can you imagine what I see in the second piece shown with the baskets?) I do think the white and clear bowl with the teal edge is gorgeous. It could come and live in my house any time.

  3. Curt, I love Chihuly, and your photos of his work are wonderful. Like most people, I’m amazed at the color, creativity, and uniqueness of his glass. I’ve seen his pieces literally all over the globe. I’ve visited the St. Pete Museum, seen it in the mountains in West Virginia, as well as the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY. And I think that the first piece I saw was a massive chandelier in The Victoria and Albert in London. I must have taken 250 photos and I’ve had a post planned for probably 5 years. Eventually I’ll get it out there. In the meantime, I can enjoy your posts. ~James

  4. Such beautiful pieces. I can’t believe you didn’t have several thousand dollars in your back pocket for one.As James says above it is always a wonder to see the pieces in other parts of the world. Almost always recognizable on first sighting. So unique.

    • Grin… yes that several thousand dollars floating around, to the degree it does, will likely go to wandering. 🙂 Would love to have one of those pieces, however. And right about recognizing Chihuly wherever he pops up! –Curt

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s