Venitian Glass Blowing

I recently visited my Dad and step mom Susan up in Washington. I was there because my boyfriend Jamie Baker and friends Derek Thompson, Ted Mathot, and Jeff Pidgeon had booths at the Emerald Con Comic Book Convention. It was a successful show for the guys. The last day of the convention, I snuck off to the Tacoma Glass Blowing Museum with my Dad and Susan for one day, and wow was it cool! Actually, a more accurate term would be HOT.

The museum houses a glass blowing studio, a "hot box", where interns and experienced glass blowers who were trained at the Pilchuck School, can go to practice their craft, a school Dale Chihuly helped found in 1971. If you aren't familiar with Dale Chihuly, you might have seen his work on the ceiling of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

We watched a fascinating demonstration on the centuries old Venetian glass blowing technique, perfected in Venice during the Renaissance. Amazing!

The museum also hold several pieces from internationally recognized glass artists. I did not write down the names of the artists, unfortunately. Regardless, the beauty they channel is stronger than words:

I know it is cool to talk about avant guard art from the 20th century as totally bunk. However, when I look at many of these pieces, I see nothing that adheres to the classical realist tradition that I so love. And yet, these pieces are undeniably beautiful.