Chihuly Garden & Glass – Seattle

I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so awed by glass in my life. I know I didn’t have high expectations. I’ve seen glass blowing in Venice, seen many glass art-works but never anything on such a scale.

It was just stunning. Breathtaking. Overwhelming.

Each room that reveals the next piece is even more incredible than the last.

My favourites have to be the main room and the room with the glass in the ceiling. They’re just amazing. So much effort, design and detail in the pieces and they’re huge!

Outside is great too. Chihuly has effortlessly integrated the glass into the garden and it really does look like the pieces belong there. On my crappy iPhone camera I wasn’t able to take pictures that really capture the concept.

We stayed and watched a few of the videos about Chihuly – behind the scenes and so forth. He has Such a vision without having a vision at all. He doesn’t know what he is going to create until he starts painting it.

I love the way he paints – unsure of the medium? A watered down acrylic perhaps. He literally paints from the tube. Squeezes sloshes of paint out onto giant cardboard in crazy motions and somehow it looks incredible and you can see what they are going to do with the glass. Cool to see the process from concept to final pieces.

I honestly thought the guy must be dead – his art is so recognised I just presumed but he is alive and kicking, creating new masterpieces.

If you are in Seattle, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out. It’s right next to the Space Needle in Seattle Center.

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