... to have a fun Halloween. :)
(Pepper will be watching you)
10.30.2007
10.09.2007
Garden of Glass
For the last few months, Pittsburgh has been in for a treat - Dale Chihuly is showcasing his exquisite glass art at Phipps Conservatory. As the exhibition is in its final weeks, we decided to check it out a few nights ago.
I've always pictured Chihuly to be an eccentric little old man from a lesser known European nation with a wicked and prolific imagination, churning out fantastic works of art in a little studio somewhere. I've seen images of his avant-garde glass sculptures and the famous glass ceiling at the Bellagio, but know little else. Turns out the master is a stocky gregarious American with an eye patch - seeing only with one eye for the last 30 years, he translates his concepts through canvas paintings and verbal directions to glassblowers that he hires. We saw some of those paintings on display at Phipps, and watched part of a video where he orchestrated the construction of the Wall of Ice in Jerusalem, Israel. (He was quite the prima donna and really cracking the whip, but when his vision finally materialized, everything seemed worth it. An artist's gotta do what he's gotta do, eh?)
It took us about 2 hours to go through all the installations, and we even rushed through some. There were a few I felt lukewarm about, but most were jaw-dropping and incredibly amazing.
Centerpiece at the foyer - whimsical classic Chihuly
Organic installations like these amber cattails make the exhibition visually stunning
Fire & Ice - Fiori Sun and neon blue tumbleweed
The themed rooms were out of this world!
Flower chandelier
Macchia Forest - my favorite installation
Closeups - the curves and colors that make the art worth thousands
There are great pictures on the website too, if my pics don't do 'em justice.
I might even go again during the day - it's an opportunity not to be missed!
I've always pictured Chihuly to be an eccentric little old man from a lesser known European nation with a wicked and prolific imagination, churning out fantastic works of art in a little studio somewhere. I've seen images of his avant-garde glass sculptures and the famous glass ceiling at the Bellagio, but know little else. Turns out the master is a stocky gregarious American with an eye patch - seeing only with one eye for the last 30 years, he translates his concepts through canvas paintings and verbal directions to glassblowers that he hires. We saw some of those paintings on display at Phipps, and watched part of a video where he orchestrated the construction of the Wall of Ice in Jerusalem, Israel. (He was quite the prima donna and really cracking the whip, but when his vision finally materialized, everything seemed worth it. An artist's gotta do what he's gotta do, eh?)
It took us about 2 hours to go through all the installations, and we even rushed through some. There were a few I felt lukewarm about, but most were jaw-dropping and incredibly amazing.
Centerpiece at the foyer - whimsical classic Chihuly
Organic installations like these amber cattails make the exhibition visually stunning
Fire & Ice - Fiori Sun and neon blue tumbleweed
The themed rooms were out of this world!
Flower chandelier
Macchia Forest - my favorite installation
Closeups - the curves and colors that make the art worth thousands
There are great pictures on the website too, if my pics don't do 'em justice.
I might even go again during the day - it's an opportunity not to be missed!
10.05.2007
Llama llama duck
Well, maybe not llamas...
We visited an alpaca farm last weekend. Still dreaming of visiting Peru one day, but in the meantime, this will be as close as I'll get to the exotic creatures. A few dozen alpacas roamed the open field, grazing, completely untroubled by the flock of camera-happy tourists on National Alpaca Day (there is such a thing... who knew!).
Alpacas are prized for their incredibly soft fleece; we had a chance to pet a cria (baby alpaca) and feel bundles of fleece that were about to be spun into yarn. Softer than Pepper! (But we won't tell her.) There are two kinds of alpacas - huacaya and suri. Huacaya alpacas have slightly coarser fleece and look like woolly camels; suri alpacas have 'dreadlocks', and the finer breeds look like creatures out of a Hayao Miyazaki fantasy. (In fact, they can be found on some farms in Australia because they scare away the foxes.)
Male alpacas start at $500, but female alpacas start at $12,000, and generally go for higher. Depending on the 'quality' of the animal (color, texture of fleece, etc.), they can fetch anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000. Because they are domesticated, valuable, and so damn cute, some are sold as pets.
Took pics of them, of course:
A mother and her baby
For a souvenir, I got a pair of rainbow-colored alpaca mittens. :D I'll save the fancier souvenirs for when I visit the alpacas that graze on the Andean range...
We visited an alpaca farm last weekend. Still dreaming of visiting Peru one day, but in the meantime, this will be as close as I'll get to the exotic creatures. A few dozen alpacas roamed the open field, grazing, completely untroubled by the flock of camera-happy tourists on National Alpaca Day (there is such a thing... who knew!).
Alpacas are prized for their incredibly soft fleece; we had a chance to pet a cria (baby alpaca) and feel bundles of fleece that were about to be spun into yarn. Softer than Pepper! (But we won't tell her.) There are two kinds of alpacas - huacaya and suri. Huacaya alpacas have slightly coarser fleece and look like woolly camels; suri alpacas have 'dreadlocks', and the finer breeds look like creatures out of a Hayao Miyazaki fantasy. (In fact, they can be found on some farms in Australia because they scare away the foxes.)
Male alpacas start at $500, but female alpacas start at $12,000, and generally go for higher. Depending on the 'quality' of the animal (color, texture of fleece, etc.), they can fetch anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000. Because they are domesticated, valuable, and so damn cute, some are sold as pets.
Took pics of them, of course:
A mother and her baby
For a souvenir, I got a pair of rainbow-colored alpaca mittens. :D I'll save the fancier souvenirs for when I visit the alpacas that graze on the Andean range...
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