Pacific Northwest Road Trip: Day 2: Edition 2: Chihuly Garden and Glass

Pacific Northwest Road Trip: Day 2: Chihuly Garden and Glass

Dale Chihuly's exhibit is in a word spectacular. It's incredibly gorgeous, beautiful, whatever adjective you want to use to describe something that is truly unique and eye-opening. It's eye-candy.

The colors, shapes and textures were intense. Each room was a different theme. some rooms had only enough light to illuminate the exhibit but everything else was pitch black. (That seriously made it even better. All you saw was the colors.)

ROOM 1: GLASS FOREST

This reminded me of nerve endings. It was called a forest but for me it looked more like a cutout of nerve endings. Very good just a different approach...or light sabers.

ROOM 2: NORTHWEST ROOM

This room primarily reminded me of seashells, conches, etc. Very colorful and large pieces with lots of variation. Notice the columns and rows of lines.

Crab. I loved the black and gold specks. So exquisite and delicate but fierce.

ROOM 3: SEALIFE ROOM

This was sitting on top of a round pedestal. The top was like glass so the sculpture reflected off that making it appear even bigger and giving it more depth of color.

I walked into this room and my mouth dropped. Literally dropped. I was in such awe. I just stood there, getting in the way of everyone, staring. Looking at everything. Eventually I came out of my hypnosis and started walking around the entire sculpture examining all the pieces. How they each were different, how they looked together, how they individually were their own shape but together made a different shape.

When you look closely you can see the texture and color and shape.

I call this Medusa's hair because it looks like snakes writhing.

An octopus. Very clever.

Close up of an anemone? perhaps? Look at the gold flecks and the nobs in this piece. So intricate.

The starfish. My favorite. It looks like it's swirling in the sea of blue and teal waters. Spinning round and round trying to break free.

ROOM 4: PERSIAN CEILING

I gotta say I think this room was my absolute favorite. Just walking into this small space was intoxicating. You see a room awash with color and light and texture. I so wanted to just lay flat on the ground staring at the ceiling. I did sit down by a wall though and stare.

Look at how the light shooting down through the glass adds another layer to the picture. Like a rainbow of texture; swirls, webs, suns, dream catchers, etc.

I asked a nice lady to take my picture for me. I wanted to show what it looked like for a person to be sitting amongst all this glorious color and light.

ROOM 5: MILLE FIORI

Which loosely translated means a "thousand flowers"

It's a jungle of light and color and shape. There was so much for the senses to take in I just walked around this rectangular exhibit and took pictures of what caught my eye.

Agave?

Look how this looks like it has small crystals on it. Looking at each sculpture in a different light produces a different effect. Smooth, flowy, swirly and nubby.

ROOM 6: IKEBANA AND FLOAT BOAT

Loved the crystal clear reflection of the surface. It's like being on a lake when the wind is calm, the day is silent and you are all alone on the lake.

I love the pattern on the teal colored ball. It reminds me of a planet with rings around it.

Which one is your favorite? There are so many to choose from. Different colors, textures, patterns, sizes...an endless feast of delight for the eyes.

ROOM 7: CHANDELIERS

There were a couple different chandeliers hanging but I just took pictures of the ones I liked.

I call this one the "Sun". It's shooting out it's heat in corkscrews of reds, oranges and yellows spiraling to you.

The gradation of red to yellow is so slight.

Another angle makes it seem like a flower with many petals emerging.

Teal, turquoise, blues... my fav because those are some of my favorite colors.

dark to white

Reminds me of a little tow-headed girl with curly locks bouncing around.

This one seemed dangerous to me. Big bubbles and hooks.

Look a crab claw. Lobster claw? A pincher?

The best part of art is, in my opinion, that everyone sees something different. What do you see?

Chihuly paints his ideas out, like a blueprint.

ROOM 8: MACCHIA FOREST

Giant shells. I love the variation from light to dark on the green one. It's the Green Bay Packer sculpture.

A look into the inside of one of these bowls.

Truth be told this was probably my least favorite room hence less pictures.

I'm skipping Room 9 because that was a theater and not really an exhibit. A video you could watch about Chihuly.

ROOM 10: GLASSHOUSE

FLOWERS, FLOWERS, FLOWERS!

With the Space Needle in the background.

Doesn't all this color just make you happy? It's so bright and vibrant and cheerful.

I mean you could look at it and think, "Woah, I need a pair of sunglasses this is too bright." or

"This is a sensory overload for me." Either way it's making an impression which I believe is one point of Art. An impression. A feeling. A thought.

OUTSIDE: GARDENF

Chandeliers on the walkway out to the Garden.

A view of the glasshouse from the backside of the Garden.

There were several different sections of the garden and each had their own color/theme. This one happened to be black. Black grass/ferns with white, gray and black colors throughout.