House of glass

Our house is made of glass...and our lives are made of glass; and there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves. Joyce Carol Oates.

Well, don't pay too much attention to that; I gave up reading JCO's novels a few months ago. They are beautifully written but she is too gloomy by far. 

I've wanted to visit the Tacoma Glass Museum for several years.

Boom! Another one off the Bucket List.

We stopped in on the way to our hotel on Friday. After figuring out our free parking and the free light rail, we rode to the 19th and Pacific stop and this is what we saw.

We crossed the street between Union Station and the State History Museum...

...and walked onto the Bridge of Glass.

This was designed by Dale Chihuly, the father of modern glass art, and contains many of his works. Chihuly has an instantly recognizable style and has been a leader in the American glass art scene for decades. He learned the team approach to glass-blowing while on a Fulbright Scholarship in Venice in the 60's and subsequently adopted it as his own. Chihuly directs his assembled team in the creative aspects of the glass-blowing and makes the ultimate decision on whether or not the finished piece is a "keeper". I assume that this approach is what enables his prolific output.

This suspension bridge is off to the right. It was a grey day still, so difficult to get an inspiring photo, but it is an imposing structure.

As you walk under the covered area, your eyes are drawn upwards and you immediately start to look like a dork. You cannot look away from all the luscious colours and sensuous shapes of the Chihuly glass, which is perched tantalizingly on top of the glass ceiling.

I'm thinking, a few million dollars of glass art in this here covered bridge.

Seriously.

I could have stayed in there, walking to and fro with my head tipped back, for a long time, but, you know, Jeff was with me.

Yes, there he is, moving impatiently ahead.

Meanwhile, I'm still under cover, gazing at the ceiling.

Glorious, isn't it?

Then, on to the next section which has glass displayed in cases on each side.

There is something about glass that is very tactile. I have to touch it to get a complete sense of its beauty. These enclosed cases drove me nuts!

There are several art installations on the grounds of the museum.

This is Water Forest, by Howard Ben Tre.

Fluent Steps, by Martin Blank, contains 754 individually sculpted pieces of glass. I love the fluid motion of the sculpture as a whole and the ethereal transparency of the individual pieces.

Phew. 

There's my fancy-shmancy art review for the day.

We paid our admission for the museum.

I was less than impressed with most of it, with a couple of exceptions.

Glimmering Gone is a collaboration between two artists, one in the US and one in Sweden. It is quite gorgeous and innovative. 

The Hot Shop, which is inside the cone in the photos, was interesting. You can watch visiting artists actually blow and form glass pieces. 

No photos allowed, anywhere in the museum.

You can imagine how I felt about that!

Much of the art is very avant garde and a little too weird for my taste. 

Peculiar, even.

I prefer my art to be beautiful rather than interesting.

Plus, it really puts me off when I read artists' pseudo-intellectual comments on their own work, as if it contained answers to life's greatest questions. Phrases like "central to the human condition" and "silent internal dialogue" just leave me cold. I want to tell them to get over themselves.

Sorry if I upset anyone with that opinion. In many ways, I am too pragmatic for my own good.

My recommendation on the Glass Museum, unless you're dying to visit the Hot Shop, is to save your money and soak in the free sights outside.

Just down the terraced steps from the museum is a shop that sells works from many of the artists who are displayed in the museum. 

Like this piece.

Gorgeous.

Jeff and I decided this artist must be quite popular, because the price tag....wowee!

I would have bought at least one smaller piece of glass, but Jeff was giving me no encouragement, so out we went again. The shop is worth a visit. I preferred it to the museum.

UP the steps again, where we got the other side of Union Station. 

What a grand building.

I will leave you with this.

I don't know the name of the sculpture.

But I LOVE IT!

Had we been in a more adventurous mood, we would have checked out Union Station (where it looked like some more glass resided) and the history museum.
But it was starting to rain and we were chilly and tired.
So we went on to the next hotel.
Towne Suites, by Marriott.
Functional but uninspired.
The feather pillows, however, were to die for.

Tomorrow, a contest.