Glass Garden

I spent some time this weekend at my parent's house since my brother and his family was home. We went out to dinner on Friday, hung out most of the day Saturday, and then spent a good chunk of Sunday together. On Saturday night, while we were talking, I glanced through a couple of the books that fill my parent's living room. One of them was on glass and particularly glass sculpture. And it got me thinking about one of my favorite artists. 

I was wandering through the art department in Borders many, many years ago when I passed a book with a beautiful red glass sculpture surrounded by green leaves. The image was striking so I had to pick up the book. I spent the next two hours flipping through every book I could find of this beautiful glass art. Dale Chihuly, in those hours, became one of my favorite artists. 

I enjoy Chihuly's work not necessarily because of his striking colors or interesting shapes (although they help) but for his mixture of art and nature. Chihuly creates not just a simple glass sculpture but an installation, often in natural park settings or botanical gardens. His glass mixes with the plants so well that there are times that people can be looking at a sculpture and not realize it for a moment. 

He uses water to float the glass or rock to accentuate it. 

So several years ago when we were down in St. Louis we were lucky enough to get to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit. And I was stunned. Above are all pictures from the gardens. Check out the unique shapes but notice the blending. How natural and organic he makes the glass seem. The shapes are whimsical and the colors bright but they still seem natural enough to end up in a garden. Although his most well-known work may hang in the ceiling of a casino (Bellagio's lobby in Vegas) I think his installments in the park will be his lasting legacy.