Chihuly and other Tacoma treats

Last weekend I was fortunate to travel up to Washington, catch up with a dear friend, teach some really fun classes, and visit a place I've wanted to see since I knew of its existence, The Museum of Glass.

Rhonda and the staff at Makers' Mercantile were again amazing! I really wish I lived closer, because the ambiance of the shop and everyone involved, the employees, the customers, the food from Riley Cakes, the merchandise, the vibe, contagious camaraderie, just everything about the place is fantastic. Please open one in Bend!!!! A girl can hope; right?

It was so nice to see familiar faces and meet new friends while we cut, painted, and stitched our own side slouch bags and then on Sunday we focused on the couching technique.

 I was so impressed with all the handiwork I saw.

Thank you Rhonda and Charlie for being the most gracious hosts and welcoming me into your lovely home. There were some wonderful meals out on the town, just a short walk away. We strolled over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a 500-foot-long pedestrian overpass that links the Museum to downtown Tacoma.

"Three distinct installations comprise the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.  Furthest from the Museum is the Seaform Pavilion, a ceiling made of 2,364 objects from Chihuly's Seaform and Persian series. Placed on top of a fifty-by-twenty-foot plate-glass ceiling, the forms are suspended in midair and make dramatic use of natural light. As visitors walk under this pavilion, they experience a seemingly underwater world of glass shapes and forms a few feet above their heads.

Marking the center of the bridge are the Crystal Towers, which rise forty feet above the bridge deck and serve as beacons of light for the bridge and city. Illuminated from below, the forms glow at night. The 63 large crystals in each tower are made from Polyvitro, a polyurethane material developed to withstand the elements. The Crystal Tower elements are raw, brutal forms, monumental and bold, that appear as if cut from mountain peaks or taken from frozen alpine lakes.

Closest to the Museum is the Venetian Wall, an eighty-foot installation displaying 109 sculptures from three of Chihuly's series: Venetians, Ikebana, and Putti. The Venetians are exuberant sculptures with origins in Venetian Art Deco glass. Ikebana are quiet pieces, created in the spirit of traditional Japanese floral arrangements. Putti were popular figures in European art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and represent Cupid, the Roman god of love. The Venetian Wall is a collection of some of the largest blown-glass works executed in the history of the medium."

What an utter work of wonderment! And we spied even more works of Chihuly glass art through the windows of the Union Station courthouse.  As if all this weren't enough, I also feasted my eyes on the amazing works at the Glass Museum.

Have you guessed that these were part of the "Into the Deep" exhibition?

Be still my beating heart. I could have spent all day....no, all weekend there! I guess that means I'll just have to come back again!