Recent travels have taken me to both Seattle and Tacoma, Washington – described by writer Margery Aronson in the book Fire as “the new ‘Center of the Universe’ for the medium of glass, a shift in no small part due to (Dale) Chihuly’s decision to return to the Northwest to live, work, and continue his early commitment to education.”

Glass artist Dale Chihuly has been back in his home region since 1971, making amazing sculpture, seaforms, chandeliers, towers, and more.  He’s been in my consciousness for about the past 12 years, as I’ve come across more and more of his work in my travels.

So it was great to spend time recently in Chihuly’s  hometown of Tacoma and his current city of Seattle, viewing works both very public and more private.

We began in Tacoma, where the 2002 Chihuly Bridge of Glass offers much for the eye.  As a welcoming gateway to downtown Tacoma, the Bridge of Glass has two rising crystal towers, a seaform ceiling that is beautiful in any light, and a Venetian wall composed of individual Chihuly pieces.

Later that same day we visited Chihuly’s Boathouse on Lake Union in Seattle, a 45,000 square foot studio, hotshop, and apartment.  The photo to lead off the post is of the glass work in the bottom of a lap pool.  The photos below are some of the beautiful chandeliers found throughout the building.

I hope you enjoy.

More to come…

DJB