Chihuly first started out as an architect, but he always had an interest in glass. When he took a textile class, he wove pieces of glass into it. When he was working on a stained glass project at one point he decided to blow a bubble in the molten glass to see what would happen. From that moment on he became fascinated with blowing glass. Glass — a material made of molten sand colored with minerals, whose form is made of breath and influenced by marvering (rolling on a table), centrifical rotations, and gravity. A Fulbright scholarship led him to Murano to work at vennini, where’re the venetians had consolidated and protected their glass blowing traditions and knowledge for centuries. It was there chihuly became acquainted with the team concept involved with blowing glass. There was a person that gathered the initial molten glass at the end of the pipe, a person that laid out the color materials to fold into the glass, the glass blower or gaffer, a person that would add colored molten glass to the object at various points in the process, and people to help transfer the glass into an annealer to prevent cracking. Blowing glass is like a carefully choreographed sequence of maneuvers.
When he returned to the states after a year at venini, chihuly modified the processes he learned. He was more interested in creating asymmetrical objects, organically formed with the effects of gravity. He collaborated with painters to test out different color combinations. He noticed that the colors appeared more vibrant if they were separated by a layer of white glass, so he would insert a layer of white glass between colors. This white layer was called clouds. On the marvering table, the white glass would be laid out like jimmies and the molten glass would be rolled in it. (‘Jimmies’ is a northeast term for little pieces of chocolate sprinklered on ice cream cones.) here’s a video of his process... (Chihully in action)
In the late 1970’s chihuly suffered a serious car accident. The glass windshield cut through his face requiring 256 stitches. He lost sight in his left eye and could no longer be the gaffer. No longer able to physically be part of the team, chihuly led his team like a coach. This disconnect from the manual process freed his mind, and allowed him to see the process from different angles and test new ideas. When he wasn’t hovering by his team, he was making drawings using juices, a handful of pencils at the same time, infusing different materials into the drawings... these were the instructions he made for the his team to execute. His playfulness in his process led him to create, which led to conversations, which led to questions, and then innovations.
Chihuly taught at idyllic Haystack Mountain School on the northeast coast of Maine designed by Edward larrabee barnes before setting up a school and studio in Seattle. The free flowing architecture environment complemented his process and mentality. For the museum in seattle, Chihuly not only designed the building but the garden that houses his glass work... he even chose the colors of the walls on the interior to highlight his glasswork.
When he returned to the states after a year at venini, chihuly modified the processes he learned. He was more interested in creating asymmetrical objects, organically formed with the effects of gravity. He collaborated with painters to test out different color combinations. He noticed that the colors appeared more vibrant if they were separated by a layer of white glass, so he would insert a layer of white glass between colors. This white layer was called clouds. On the marvering table, the white glass would be laid out like jimmies and the molten glass would be rolled in it. (‘Jimmies’ is a northeast term for little pieces of chocolate sprinklered on ice cream cones.) here’s a video of his process... (Chihully in action)
In the late 1970’s chihuly suffered a serious car accident. The glass windshield cut through his face requiring 256 stitches. He lost sight in his left eye and could no longer be the gaffer. No longer able to physically be part of the team, chihuly led his team like a coach. This disconnect from the manual process freed his mind, and allowed him to see the process from different angles and test new ideas. When he wasn’t hovering by his team, he was making drawings using juices, a handful of pencils at the same time, infusing different materials into the drawings... these were the instructions he made for the his team to execute. His playfulness in his process led him to create, which led to conversations, which led to questions, and then innovations.
Chihuly taught at idyllic Haystack Mountain School on the northeast coast of Maine designed by Edward larrabee barnes before setting up a school and studio in Seattle. The free flowing architecture environment complemented his process and mentality. For the museum in seattle, Chihuly not only designed the building but the garden that houses his glass work... he even chose the colors of the walls on the interior to highlight his glasswork.
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