Chihuly Garden And Glass

We packed a lot into our recent trip to Seattle but our visit to the Chihuly Garden And Glass made the biggest impression on me.  What an incredible place!  I had no idea what we would see there although I have seen Chihuly's glasswork exhibited at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and also at the San Jose Museum of Modern Art.  I'm just going to post some of my pictures and let them speak for themselves.  

You can see more about this fantastic exhibition here.

Each of these glass sculptures was several feet tall, taller than me.  Arranged on black glass, the reflections are stunning.

This is one huge installation, reminiscent of a water garden, again with incredible reflections.

This blue glass chandelier hangs from the tall ceiling, almost to the floor.  I remember seeing  a similar one being installed on a PBS tv show about Chihuly, each twirly bit of glass being carefully added individually.  

This is a full size boat, filled with these gorgeous glass globes suggesting Japanese glass boat floats.

This sculpture reaches from floor to ceiling.  Lots of watery shades with sea creatures here and there.

Moving outside, we passed through this large greenhouse with the Space Needle visible outside.  The glasshouse was filled with these giant yellow, orange and red poppy like flowers.  

In the garden, the combination of beautiful planting and breathtaking glass boggled my mind!  Everywhere you looked there was something lovely, something to challenge your expectations of "a garden".

I think the yucca like glass sculpture below was at least 15feet tall!

It is not often that I am stunned into silence.  This place was truly amazing.  We walked and quietly took in the sculptures indoors and out, admired the beautiful and carefully planned mix of planting and glass and marveled at the sheer outrageousness of it all.  Wow.