We celebrated our 28th anniversary with a trip to the Chihuly Museum and Hot Shop in St. Petersburg. The museum exhibits the works of Dale Chihuly (born in 1941) who is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur. He uses blown glass as the primary medium for his environmental artwork. He attended the University of Washington to study Interior design and in 1961 he learned how to melt and fuse glass. In 1962 he left school to study art in Florence, Italy. Chihuly later returned to the University of Washington to obtain a degree in interior design in 1965. He earned a Master of Science degree in Sculpture in 1967 from University of Wisconsin and a Master of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design. After receiving a Fulbright Fellowship he traveled to Venice where he first saw the team approach to blowing glass–which is demonstrated in the Hot Shop in St. Petersburg.
In 1976 Chihuly was involved in a car accident which left him blind in one eye, but her returned to glass blowing after this accident. However, when he dislocated his shoulder while body surfing, he could no longer hold the glass blowing pipe. At this point, he says that he became “more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor.”
His work is a dazzling display of intense color and intricate design a feast for the eyes and a sight to behold. The docent told us that Chihuly names the sculptures, but prefers not to have the names listed at the exhibits so not to influence the observer. I have named these sculptures below–what do you think?
 |
| Medusa |
 |
| Happy Birthday |
 |
| Boating in Outer Space |
The sculpture above is without a doubt my favorite. When in St.Pete–go visit this exhibit-it won’t disappoint.
Off to the hot shop.
Joy
Joy
