Your thoughts on the photo?
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Good morning, Marian! A beautiful, colorful sculpture. My first thought was fire (with a bird). I think it might look like fire if it is lit up at night, but right now, I think it looks like a giant flower–alive and growing!
Good morning, Merril! I like how your mind works–a daytime and an evening version. Thanks for beginning the chat here. 🙂
You’re welcome! 😊
Somehow she reminds me of a Disney character maybe. She’s female with hair colored wild and flying in the breeze. With kudos to the creator.
(And I can’t use the ebook but I do turn to the paper book from time to time.)
Melodie, I like your interpretation. And thank you for always supporting Mennonite Daughter, much appreciated.
This reminds me of a ‘flame of friendship.’ A sweet friend and I visited the Chihuly exhibit at the Biltmore in NC several years ago. Inclement weather ensued and an evening stroll through the exhibit at night did not fare well for ‘cute sandals.’ A foot-washing commenced with bottled water and the cute sandals found their final resting place in the trash receptacle.
We still talk about this fond memory; great beauty mixed with mud-caked sandals, what a contrast that binds us together under the ‘flame of friendship.’ Thanks for reminder Marian.
i did know about your trip with Ms. W, but I didn’t know the back story including the sacrifice of sandals.. The sculptures were scattered around the landscaping, and some of the terrain was paved, but other surfaces just dirt and perhaps gravel. Thanks for recalling your memorable visit here. 😀
I’d say this is a Dale Chihuly. His work is mind-blowing!
You are on the right track, Liz. The glass-blowing is indeed mind-blowing! 😀
😀
Is that Chihuly? So beautiful. I went to an exhibit several years ago at a conservatory in Chicago. So breathtaking.
I’m glad you got to see the exhibit “in person.” I wonder how these exquisite pieces are transported because they are so fragile. Thanks, L. Marie. 🙂
This sculpture reminds me that autumn is coming, in a blaze of color! Usually we delight in the fall colours in Ontario where our middle daughter lives with her family, but this year we will stay put in Manitoba. I will enjoy daily walks along our small lake here, watching the geese staging as they prepare for their long flight to warmer climes. I’m happy to participate in the draw!
I’m glad you saw fall colours in the sculpture. Even though you won’t see them in Ontario this autumn, you can enjoy them in Manitoba. They may be a backdrop for the lake and geese preparing to migrate.
Your name is entered into the draw, Elfrieda! 🙂
A bad hair day!
Thanks for injecting some humor, Jean! 🙂
Hi Marian. It’s a beautiful photo. For me, the sculpture speaks to the exquisite fire and the fragility of life, especially poignant as we approach 9/11.
Fire and fragility may seem like opposites, but they can also be seen as complementary, a new thought for me. Thanks for this, Susan.
Yes, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 is approaching. I was still teaching at the time. The images on TV were jaw-dropping and think classes were suspended for the day. ((( )))
That is a WOW for me. Just intricate work. I wouldn’t want to be the one to have to package it for a move.
I have a copy of your book, so I will abstain from entering the draw and leave that to others. Thanks!
Dozens of these glass figures are exhibited across the country. I don’t know how they do it without breakage. Because I was fascinated by the idea of transporting the pieces successfully, I did a Google search and found this:
“The Seattle-based Chihuly Studio shipped thousands of individual glass pieces wrapped in foam and carefully packed in hundreds of heavy-gauge cardboard boxes. The boxes, along with armatures, hardware and tools, filled six 53-foot tractor trailers, stretching about the length of a football field.” (Jun 13, 2014)
Your comment prompted me to find an answer to a question I’ve wondered for a long time. Thanks, Arlene. 🙂
That is a double WOW. That’s a whole lot of tractor trailers.
😀
This is lovely. It looks like a vivid and beautiful sea plant or creature.
An intricate fondant image? I’m only half joking, Robbie! 🙂
It reminds me of the wingtips of a mythical phoenix bird, stretching to the sky, in anticipation of rebirth from the troubles and strife we have been experiencing. Just my humble opinion…
Ginger, I appreciate how many interpretations a single photo can evoke. No one, except you, has dipped into the mythical and symbolic. I hope you are doing well health-wise as I know you have had many challenges. Thanks for taking the time to comment here! 🙂
This Chihuly reminds me of a sea creature moving its tentacles toward the sun. It’s beautiful! I also have your book, so good luck to someone who is lucky enough win a copy.
Bonnie, someone else thought the glass art looked like a sea creature, and I can see that too.
Yes, you came to my launch, I believe, and have read my book. It’s always nice to have supportive friends close at hand. Thank you! 🙂
That’s an amazing sculpture, Marian. Where did you photograph it? Many colorful tentacles of a fiery octopus. The naughty me would like to break them off one by one. Maybe if they were part of miniature candy. I would never do this with the real art installation, of course, but I do wonder about the sound it would make to break the pieces of glass. It must have been tedious and time consuming to create this piece of art. I will pass on the drawing to win an e-copy, as I’d like someone else to be the lucky winner. 🙂
You are really letting your imagination run wild here, Liesbet–ha!
I can verify that this piece of art is taller than Cliff, and not a miniature. Either he or I snapped the “Flames of Fire” installation at the Biltmore Gardens in July or August 2018 when we visited Asheville, NC on our wedding anniversary. Actually, I blogged about it on this post which shows a photo I snapped of Cliff taking a picture of this same sculpture: https://marianbeaman.com/2018/10/24/51-years-eat-pray-love/ There you can see the size a little better.
Thanks for your generous “pass” on winning the e-copy. I’ll take your name out of the hat. 😀
I’d love to see this made in person. Glassblowing is such an art!
The famous Dale Chihuly began his fabulous creations by himself. Because of a serious car accident, he is blind in one eye, which compromises his depth person and peripheral vision. Also he has shoulder issues which limit his mobility. Thus, he has talented assistants whom he instructs in the glass-blowing process. His work is exhibited all over the country, but I think there is a permanent exhibition in St. Petersburg, FL along with classes at another site:
https://dmgschoolproject.org/product/experience-glass-blowing/?gclid=CjwKCAjwvuGJBhB1EiwACU1AiRCLHUkVv3-T7nGFHKKUDOhPGFuh5P7l1cdkbj_XNSpAgCe4c9S5-BoCvUkQAvD_BwE
This summer there was an exhibit in Phoenix, AZ. Yes, Pete, his hand-made pieces are mind-blowing. 😀
This is so beautiful Marian thank you for sharing this with us. I’ve seen a picture/photograph of it before – did you maybe post it one of your previous blogs? It is work of art, a thing of beauty. Flames of Fire, yes, also it makes me think of fronds of coral in the sea, each swaying this way and that, which makes me think of movement, fierce and gentle … thank you for all the extra info about trucks, the fragility of each item, himself Dale Chihuly and his passing on his great talents to his assistants. From his adversity came such glorious works …
You have a wonderful memory if you can recall a long-shot of this art piece in the Biltmore Gardens. It’s included in this blog post from 3 years ago: https://marianbeaman.com/2018/10/24/51-years-eat-pray-love/
I like your chain of thought, imagining the tendrils like fronds of sea coral, “movement, fierce and gentle.” Thanks for sharing your ideas, Susan. 😀
I love it! We saw some very similar ones at Kew Gardens in London a few years ago.
I wonder if Dale Chihuly’s work was displayed at Kew Gardens. If so, a trans-Atlantic shipping would be extremely difficult, so maybe the art pieces would have been made on site. Chihuly’s work fits into garden scapes as well as indoor exhibits. Anyway, that’s my opinion. Thanks for sharing yours, Maria Fatima! 🙂
Marian, I just noticed there is a little bird sitting on top of one of the glass spires on the far right. It looks like a live bird, not part of the sculpture! Reminds me of the little sparrows coming to our feeder now that fall is approaching!
Elfrieda, you are the first and only one to mention the bird. Even photographer Cliff didn’t notice the bird near the top, upper right until he reviewed the photos later.
You now have two entries into the drawing, my friend! 🙂
Methusaleh in living color? Lol 🙂
You crack me up, Debby! So you’re suggesting you see a 969-year-old biblical character preserved in living color. Lol 😀
Omg, hilariousness! I meant Medusa!!!!!! 🙂 🙂
I like where this went and how it ENDED – yeah, hilarious! 😀
LOL my bad! But a good laugh indeed! 🙂 🙂
Laughs are good. We need more of them, that’s for sure! 😀
🙂 🙂 🙂
I like anything with bright colors so my thoughts are positive!
Barbara, your preference for bright colors shows especially in your videos. I remember some very bright scarves you selected, maybe in the backgrounds too. The brain likes COLOR, I’m told. 😀
Also, somehow it says I don’t follow your blog, yet I know I do. Anyway I re-followed it so you might see a notification. This has happened to me before – on both ends. Weird!
I just checked MailerLite, my email subscription service, and you are shown as “active,” and listed as signing on March 2019. If somehow you don’t get the next blog post, let me know and I’ll put you in manually. One other subscriber has a similar problem: She literally “fell off” my email list, and I added her manually.
About a month ago, I asked my web guy to check the links for subscription, which seemed not to be working as I wasn’t getting new subscribers. I think the subscription links on my blog are working now.
Thanks for calling this problem to my attention, and, again, let me know that your are getting blog notifications from me as usual next week. Sorry about that, Barbara. I value our connection here.
🙂
Thanks for checking, Marian. I’ll let you know if I don’t see your posts!
Fingers crossed, you won’t have to. Thanks, Barb!
Chihuly! Many years ago, Vic and I were in a museum in Seattle and he was putting in an exhibit with helpers. An amazing experience to watch him create exquisite light.
An eyewitness – how absolutely wonderful for you and Vic. Chihuly is amazing as you know, working through enormous challenges: a blind eye and a shoulder injury, which explains partially why he needs helpers. He turns 80 soon, and I think he still creates glass art.
Thanks for chiming in, Elaine. 😀
I love the work of Dale Chihuly. Thus piece is amazing. Sorry I am late as I’ve been travelling. Finally visiting family in Canada.
I’m glad you have joined your Canadian family. In these odd times, that’s a BLESSING. Safe travels and do stay healthy!