Color immersion with Chihuly in Seattle

Judi, Janet, Pat and me engulfed in reflections
from Chihuly glass.

My recent travels to soak up color and inspiration climaxed Monday when I visited the new Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center with friends from my art quilt group STITCH.

It was GLORIOUS!!!!

Breathtaking doesn't begin to describe the effect of sunshine pouring through a brilliant glass ceiling (above and below) in the Persian Ceiling gallery, bathing viewers and the room in every beautiful color of the rainbow. And this was just a small part of the exhibit.

Looking up ...

... at the glass ceiling on a sunny day.

This explains the photos above.

If that was too much color all at once, you can decompress for a minute with photos of our approach to the exhibit. We took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle on a morning that was so blue we could hardly believe it was October in the Northwest. (Normally it's gray and rainy by now.) Sky, buildings, boats and bay all were shades of blue. After failing to hail a cab to take us to Seattle Center, we ended up on a city bus that got us there.

Seattle Center is a 74-acre campus on the site of the 1962 World's Fair and is now an arts and entertainment center. The sculpture above reminded me of bamboo, but now that I've put it below the photo of downtown it's making me think of skyscrapers.

We oohed and aahed at the artistic buildings as we wandered toward the new Chihuly exhibit. Above is a glimpse of it from outside the fence, before we bought our tickets. That red and yellow glass might look pretty dramatic against the gray winter Seattle sky, but I was glad we saw it on a sunny day.

Let's step inside ...

The Northwest Room:

Pendleton blankets from Chihuly's personal collection.

Dale Chihuly is from the Northwest (born in 1941 in Tacoma), and the Northwest Room (one of 11 distinct parts of the exhibit) showcases some of his collections of Northwest Coast Indian baskets, trade blankets and photos of Native Americans. Influenced by the woven designs of native art, he developed a method of laying down threads of glass on the outside of glass vessels. A few pieces from the Northwest Room:

Sorry -- I didn't get the whole sign, but this tells a little.

 

The Sealife Room has this stupendous 15-foot swirling sculpture swimming with marine animals found in the Pacific Northwest:

The Mille Fiori Room was a glowing world of plant-like glass forms:

 

Drawing Walls:

After losing sight in his left eye in a 1976 car accident in England and dislocating his shoulder body surfing in 1979, Chihuly began drawing as a way to communicate his vision and designs to his glass team. The drawings evolved to become an important part of his expression, and many of them are hung in the exhibit.

The Ikebana and Float Boats gallery:

Wooden rowboat filled with glass ikebana (Japanese art of flower arranging) elements.

(A docent said Chihuly likes to place his pieces on black plexiglass to create the dramatic reflections.)

Boat filled with balls inspired by Japanese fishing net floats.

The Macchia Forest:

Inside of a Macchia Forest vessel.

Macchia is Italian for "spot." This series uses about 300 colors and has the most fantastical spots. A predominant feature is the contrasting color of the lip.

Outside of a Macchia Forest vessel.

It was like walking through a glowing glass forest.

The Glasshouse (as opposed to greenhouse):

Space Needle is framed by flowering glass vines inside the Glasshouse.

The outdoor Garden:

Me and the Space Needle reflected in a glass ball.

We spent a lot of time wandering in a dazed state of awe through the garden. We had fun matching up our clothes colors to glass sculptures.

Judi in red.

Pat in purple.

Janet in blue and green.

Me in every color.

My favorite color -- just like my T-shirt.

The Collections Cafe:

We wrapped up our visit with a delicious lunch at the Collections Cafe, which showcases various collections of the artist, including these framed bottle openers in the restroom. He also had accordians hanging from the ceiling. Lunch included cheese curds with a bourbon-tomato sauce that was excellent! (I think it was bourbon -- again, I failed to take notes. But it was good.)

We all agreed it was a magical day.

Do visit if you have the chance!

I did a blog post on Chihuly glass baskets at the Tacoma Art Museum here: 
http://sherriequilt.blogspot.com/2011/06/chihuly-glass-baskets.html

Here's a link to Dale Chihuly's biography on his web site:
 http://www.chihuly.com/biography.aspx

Have a colorful day

Sunday night color splash

This morning waiting for the ferry at Pt. Defiance, Tacoma.

The Puget Sound area is having a record-setting string of sunny, warm days (approaching 80 days without rain!!!), which means colorful inspiration has been throwing itself at my feet for months! I've been clicking away madly with my camera everywhere I go as the sun sets everything aglow. Gotta store up those intense, rich memories for the rainy season.

Here are a few quick splashes of color from the past week to get your new week off to a good start. Enjoy!

I finished piecing this quilt top, which I passed on to our local group that donates quilts to cancer patients. Another volunteer will do the quilting. It was pure joy working in these bright colors (all the fabric was donated), and I photographed it spread on our Japanese maple by the front door.

Our quilt guild learned how to make "quilted" floor mats last week, and Janet's shoes look right at home on this one. The program was presented by the ladies of Beach Garden Quilts and Studio. Check out their colorful site at http://www.beachgardenquilts.com/  Here are more of their mats: 

 

Today, Dave and I took the ferry to Vashon Island and bought flowers, honey and a pumpkin at this roadside stand. Vashon is known for its many local small farms (and artists).

Other colors from Vashon -- The Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie (above) and Island Quilter (below).

This is going to be a HUGE week at Island Quilter, with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably coming in to give classes and a lecture. Check out the website for more info: http://www.islandquilter.com/

The gallery at Island Quilter changes exhibits monthly.

Some of the Kaffe Fassett Collection at Island Quilter.

And that zips things up for me tonight.

Have a colorful week

Color at the Stitchin' Post

I finally made it a few weeks ago to the famous Stitchin' Post quilt store in Sisters, OR. www.stitchinpost.com

Oh my, talk about COLOR!

I was in heaven, despite the slight haze of smoke outside from the wildfires that had been burning in central Oregon. I told my husband to just get comfy on a bench somewhere, because I'd be awhile.

I moved slowly, in awe, from one display of color to another ... fabric, wool, thread, books ... everything in glorious happy colors.

At first I made selections thoughtfully, then decided what the heck and started scooping up fat quarters in almost every polka dot color on display. You never know when you might need a hot orange on magenta polka dot in the dead of winter.

The high walls were covered with incredible quilts, many designed by owner Jean Wells and her daughter, Valori. Jean is the woman behind the famous Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, which has draped the town in quilts every July since 1975.

The Christmas corner, below, features a delicate, graphic fabric line by Valori, called Wrenly's Christmas.

And the WOOL! Look at this luscious display of wool applique and beautiful rows of wool thread in a soft rainbow.

Next to the quilt section is a large yarn area, with piles of gorgeous, soft yarns to tempt even the non-knitter.

It was hard to leave, but I did come away with a bagful of color to get me through the winter.

Have a colorful day

Bend, Oregon: My kind of sky

I love sunsets and I love orange and blue together, so I REALLY loved this sunset in Bend, OR, last week. It was my first visit to the high desert city, and I found the perfect spot to take in a 360-degree view of the city, mountains and sky: the top of Pilot Butte State Scenic Lookout, an old cinder cone.

This (above) is how the sky looked at the beginning of the show. And here is how the drama unfolded over the next hour:

The Cascade Mountains were hazy because of smoke from the fires that have been burning in central Oregon for weeks. The view point was filled with people watching the show and taking photos. Below, you can see part of the city.

More about Pilot Butte: 

* It's an extinct volcano, and Bend is one of only a very few cities in the United States with a volcano within its city limits.
* It rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains.
* The popular hiking trail to the top winds through stands of juniper, sage, and other high desert plants.
* The city launches its Fourth of July fireworks from this point.

It was exhilarating! Sunrises are probably just as beautiful from that spot, but I'll never know firsthand.

Have a colorful day

Good news!

Detail from one of my framed collages.

I just got a surprise email from Interweave Press telling me they were resurrecting my article on Framed Fabric Collages to use in a new series of quilting and sewing leaflets coming out next spring.

So I took a few of the collages outside to photograph for you. I went through a period about seven years ago when I made and sold a lot of these, then I moved on to other things. They're fun to do, especially if you can find precut mats and frames at a good price. All you do is take fabric snippets and beads and make a little piece to place behind the mat opening. I leave the glass out of the frames.

Framed collage using hand-painted fabric, gold foil and beads.

This one is called "Morning Energy" because ONCE, when I was up uncharacteristically early on a bright spring morning, I felt that surge of energy. Mostly I'm in a foggy, groggy state until almost noon because I'm a night owl. Around midnight I start to perk up and the creative juices really flow.

While I was photographing these, I got distracted by the abundance of sweet blackberries in our side yard and stopped to pick a big bowlful. Most of the branches had much fuller clumps of ripe berries than this photo, but this one photographed better because of the contrast of ripe and still red berries.

Have a colorful day