Tag Archives: Space Needle

SEATTLE & ALASKA #3: CHIHULY’S GORGEOUS GLASS

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Ask either of us who our favorite artist is (of all mediums), and we will say without hesitation, Dale Chihuly. A glass artist known for his blown glass and enormous glass sculptures, his colorful creations bring a smile to our faces every time.

Born and raised in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, he has spent much of his life in the state drawing inspiration from the waters of Puget Sound, his mother’s gardens, and the art of Indigenous tribes.

In addition to an impressive and extensive educational background, Chihuly has had an incredible career as a glass artist, as you will see by clicking on the previous link. He began experimenting with glassblowing in 1965 and was a well-accomplished artist when an unfortunate car accident in 1976 left him blinded in his left eye. He was able to continue blowing glass after recovering until he dislocated his right shoulder while bodysurfing, in 1979.

At that point, physically unable to endure the heavy lifting required in glass blowing, Chihuly hired other artists to do the work under his instruction and supervision, guiding them in bringing his visions to life. As a team under his extraordinary leadership and entrepreneurial expertise, Chihualy’s sales to date up through 2004 were estimated to have been $29 million. I can’t even imagine what they must be now. There is no published information, but the numbers must be staggering.

Bruce and I had seen Dale Chihuly’s installations in several locations, including the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg, but we were anxious to also visit Chihuly Garden and Glass, in Seattle.

Color is my thing. Over the years, my favorite photographic subjects have been underwater scenes captured while SCUBA diving, hot air balloons, and glass art. I shot a lot of photos in the museum and gardens, so editing them down was a struggle. Here, then, are probably way more pictures of glass than you want to see, but I didn’t want to leave out:

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Chihualy was inspired by snow and ice (above), and baskets woven by Indigenous tribes (below)

Inspired by the sea
This was a large room with a glass ceiling filled with blown glass. All heads were turned up when I entered this room!

The next room was a forest of glass

This installation includes two of Chihuly’s wooden rowboats, one filled with Ikebana elements and another with Niijima Floats. Their origins date to 1995 in Nuutajarvi, Finland, where he experimented with temporary installations along the shore of the nearby river and tossed glass forms into it to see how the glass would interact with water and light. Local teenagers gathered the drifting glass in rowboats, inspiring Chihuly to create a new type of installation with a variety of forms including two seen here: Ikebana and Niijima Floats.
Although we have seen glass blowing demonstrations many times before, it never gets old for us!
Al, this Needle is for you!
Following our visit to the Chihuly Museum, we returned to Pike Place for this delicious seafood chowder sampler at Pike Place Chowder. I highly recommend it!

Next up: SEATTLE & ALASKA #4: ALL ABOARD! RIDING THE DENALI STAR TRAIN

SEATTLE & ALASKA #1: SUNNY SEATTLE

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It had been thirty-nine years since Bruce and I visited Seattle, so we looked forward to seeing how the city had changed. A small group Alaskan land tour was booked with Odysseys Unlimited that would begin with a flight out of Seattle to Anchorage, so we arrived a few days early.

Seattle has a reputation (rightly so) for being very rainy; the average rainfall is about 39 inches of rain per year. And if it’s not raining, it is often cloudy. The city experiences about 201 cloudy days per year compared to 93 partly cloudy and 71 clear days. We anticipated the former rather than the latter, so we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s!

Top on our list to see was Chihualy Garden and Glass, but we arrived on a Saturday and decided to wait until Monday to visit when it would be less crowded. Besides, with the museum’s dynamic pricing, it would be less expensive, too.

Opting to stay near the airport rather than downtown for an easy getaway on Tuesday morning, we found a hotel just a short walk from the Link light rail station, which was convenient for riding a train downtown each day.

A great way to get around downtown Seattle is by their free shuttle bus, which stops every 15 minutes at several locations and hits all the popular spots. Even on a Saturday in July, we were able to catch a ride with no problem. (Of course, it helped to get off the train in China Town, at the least popular end of the bus route, and then hop on the shuttle there rather than at the Space Needle.) We did the complete round trip shuttle ride, so we could get the lay of the land and see how much we remembered from our 1987 visit. (Other than the Space Needle and Pike Place Market, not much, as it turned out!)

Just a couple of blocks away from the shuttle bus is a food hall on 5th and South Weller Street, a great casual location to grab a good quick meal. We selected Los Costenos based on its Google reviews, and we enjoyed it so much, we returned for a breakfast burrito on Monday morning, before visiting the Chihualy museum.

As you can see by these shots of China Town and the Space Needle, it was indeed a sunny day in Seattle!

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Next up: SEATTLE & ALASKA #2: POPULAR PIKE PLACE MARKET & WALKING THE WATERFRONT