You may or may not like blown glass art.
But I guarantee you, if you saw what I did at the Mayo Clinic,
you would definitely fall in love with it.
It absolutely blew me away!!!
And now, take a tour of what I saw with me, shall we?
First, some closeups of the miracle of blown glass!
LOOK at this!!:
And, in a minute, I will show you a larger picture of what this is from...
but just LOOK at the swirls and colors in this piece:
Which was part of THIS art piece!:
Go back up and look again at it.See how there are pieces of glass blown INSIDE other parts of glass?...like the dark blue "horn" coming out of that little glass hole inside the "wing" of the blue glass?
Amazing, isn't it????
Then, look at this closeup of the little horn....the swirling of the glass, trimmed in red glass....
Then, look at this closeup of the little horn....the swirling of the glass, trimmed in red glass....
See the little hole the horn is sticking through in the larger glass art object? Simple awesome!:
Sooooo beautiful!:
And this round sphere smack in the middle of it, too!:
How intricate at every angle!:
Sorry for the glare, of course it was in a glass case beside the grand piano in the lobby for protection!:
But, as GORGEOUS as that was....
I had no idea
that
what I was going to see next
was
going
to
blow me
completely away!!!!
Dale Chihuly was commissioned by a grateful Mayo Clinic family
to make handblown chandeliers for the facility.
Not just ANY chandeliers...
but
THESE!!!:
Aren't they magnificient!!?????The first thing I thought of was Medusa.
The goddess with all the snakes in her hair....
Just LOOK at each and every piece of handblown glass in each of the chandeliers!
Just LOOK at each and every piece of handblown glass in each of the chandeliers!
Swirls, designs, colors, twists....
Be. Still. My. Heart.:
Oooooooo....glass splendor!!:
Just LOOK
at
the twists,
the turns,
the swirls,
the detail that went into each one!:
Of course, after being speechless
and
just looking
at
all
the details in each one...
I thought:
Man, wonder how they hung them up?
Then, I thought:
Man, I wonder how they DUST them?...
Then, I was grateful that dusting them was not MY job.
My job
was
to just stare at them in wonder....
and say WOW.
Which I did.
Several times!:
25 comments:
Incredible...just incredible!
wow. i am almost speechless...the medusa ones are amazing!
Wow! I have never seen anything like these. And so intricate and involved, each one. Great captures, I see why you were so enchanted with these. I'm beginning to look at the world differently because of your pictures...
The chandeliers make the place look like a party is happening, not a dreary medical facility. This must be so good for morale there. Awesome reporting on the artists and also photos. Thanks.
Oh that is so wonderful. I taught students and showed movies about Dale Chihuly for years. He is a blind in one eye and he has a team of people help him put all this stuff together. On time in France they made large items and floated them down a stream as an artwork. You are so lucky to see his work. I have seen one in a modern art museum in Kansas City. Your camera is working great and so is the photographer.
Ashley: Weren't they SOMETHING???!!!
Brian: They had a set of stairs beside them...I climbed the stairs up and down and back again to look at the different angles and colors....they were simply amazing...just awesome!
DJan: What a sweet thing to say. Truly. I am so flattered by your last statement. thank you so much.
Technobabe: What a great way to describe it..."like a party is happening"...you are SO right...it made you happy just to see their whimsical nature.
L.D.: Thanks so much. I had (sadly) not heard of Dale Chihuly before seeing his work at Mayo's....but I am so glad I had the opportunity to see his works there at Mayos! Well, if you want to take a trip to Rochester to the clinics, you can see many of his works there. It would be so cool to see his works floating down a river...what a concept!!! His mind must be amazing to conceive of all of these swirling shapes and how they would fit together into a final piece...that is what I kept telling my friend...how can his mind conceive of all of these detailed blown pieces and then fit them all together in one big puzzle?
Wow, those chandeliers are something else! beautiful!
Joan---That art work is absolutely breath-taking. I have never seen anything quite like that. Wow!!!! The Chandeliers are awesome. But--like you, I wonder who DOES DUST them.. I'd have to be given that responsibility. Maybe they have a magic spray that they use....?????
Thanks SO much for sharing these.
Hugs,
Betsy
OOOOOhhhh. WOW, wow and again WOW. This is breathtaking!!
Most beautiful. Takes my breath away!
Brings to mind the following....
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but rather, by the moments that take our breath away."
Looking at these sculptures is one of those moments.
Thank you.
I don't know why but these chandeliers really touched me..to the point of tears.
To think the people who enter there filled with fear and anxiety and to be able to see such beauty is amazing.
I love how the lady said life gets better each day and lets make them feel good.
What a beautiful clinic, I am so happy the people have such a place to go too for treatment.
Just amazing pictures Joan, thank you so much for sharing, it means so much to me......:-) Hugs
Eva: They are like something I have never seen nor will ever see again. Simply miraculous!
Betsy: You are welcome...it was my pleasure to take the shots of them..I sure didn't want to ever forget seeing them or what they looked like, either. Now, by taking the photos and sharing them with others, I have preserved a wonderful memory.
Jientje: yes, it was breathtaking to see in person, too. I still cannot believe how beautiful they were.
Wendytb: yes, that is exactly what happened when I rounded the corner and saw them. I sucked in my breath in amazement.
Bernie: Oh, honey, I would never want to bring you to tears over anything! But I understand your emotional reaction upon seeing them. When I first saw them, I sucked in my breath and must have said "wow" about 30 times to my friend. And I kept clicking and clicking my camera to get different angles and shots of them. They were so awesome at each and every angle.
It is my pleasure to be able to share them with everyone...I just couldn't contain myself upon seeing them and couldn't WAIT to share them with all my blogger friends!
Love you!
wow, that glass art blew me away. Iwas blown for the first part and than the last, wow, all i can say is wow
Thanks for the anniversary wishes, means so much
He is such a talented artist! I'm so glad you were able to experience some of his awesome works!
Those chandeliers are amazing ... they look so whimsical.
Sara: Glad you liked the art....I don't know anyone who didn't think it was awesome when I was there!
Cheryl: I got on line right away to learn more about this artist when I got home!
Loree: yes! Whimsical indeed!
There is also a fantastic Chihuly sculpture in the shopping area at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. I just love his work!
Ramblin: It seems he has work all over the country, and that is GOOD because everyone should get to see a Chihuly once in their lifetime! IT is SO gorgeous!
Those first pieces looked as if they were made to be part of the sea. I really like that. Before I read about the ones you mentioned looked like Medusa, I was thinking they looked very snaky too.
I think it is so wonderful that the Mayo clinic is filled with artwork. I am amazed at the quality of the pieces from Andy Warhol to Dale Chihuly. I am a fan of both artist.
Those chandeliers are gorgeous, the detail is amazing. Thanks for sharing your photos of these fabulous works.
those pieces are fantastic!!!
Ratty: Aren't they wonderful?
SquirrelQueen: I was so much in awe when I saw all of those pieces of art!
Grannyann: They really are, so gorgeous!!
I know I'm coming late to the Chihuly party but I work at Mayo and go through the Gonda building just so I may walk under this amazing sculpture, dream, inspirational piece. I always imagine it gives some hope to those who may feel hopeless at Mayo Clinic.
I think Chihuly is a grate artist but you made him different and in your on way with your pictures. Taking pictures of “glass art” is very hard to do but you made it in your on way.
I just stumbled across your blog looking for Chihuly glass, the installation at Mayo clinic in particular. When I saw the chandeliers it was 7 or 8 years ago and I didn't see any other of his glass there. My daughter was showing me around. "There's Chihuly glass here." Hmm, it didn't mean a thing to me. Then we saw it and I don't think I've been the same since. I wish I would have seen some of the other things you photographed but really I'm just happy to have seen what I did. He's spectacular. Thanks for the post. Diane
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