Wave

One Word Sunday: wave

The power of light

“Not all the wings are made up of feathers my dear. Some are made of glass too.”
― Akshay Vasu, The Abandoned Paradise: Unraveling the beauty of untouched thoughts and dreams

Let’s take one last look at the ultimate group of sculptures on our walk. Notice how the backlighting from the sun fires the beauty of the glass.

“I don’t wish to argue,
whether the glass is
half empty or half full,
as long as what it holds,
is pure and delightful.”
― Akash Mandal

A few grace notes.

“When you look at a piece of delicately spun glass you think of two things: how beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken.”
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

Moving to a different spot adds the interest of shadow.

That ends our tour of the 2022 Chihuly installation at the Desert Botanical Garden of Phoenix. I hope you’ve enjoyed the trip. It’s possible you’ll be treated to some of non-glass sightings in coming days or maybe even a few shots of glass that I didn’t use before. For now, thanks for walking with me and enjoy your Wednesday.

Approaching

It’s easy to take photos of the sculptures themselves, but remember that these beautiful interlopers were dropped into a beautiful desert setting. (I initially typed “dessert” setting. That “s” makes all the difference. But the desert view is as sweet in its own way as dessert.) So let’s take a look at what you might see if you were walking along with me. Some of the inhabitants are as amazing as the glass and certainly a lot more dangerous.

Framed.

Peeking.

Into view.

Tomorrow we’ll take some different looks at these sculptures that look for al the world like glamorous matches all alight at the same time.

Monday walk…neon in the neighborhood

Almost at the end of the trail, literally and metaphorically as far as the Chihuly installation is concerned, we came across a number of these creations which turned out to be neon. At night they’ll be lit up, another thing to enjoy when we visit after dark. Imagine how striking they’ll be then!

To the left in the next photo, with the sun behind it, you’ll see one of our favorite things in the garden: a boojum tree. The “tree” is actually a succulent that Dr. Seuss would have been proud to have created. Who knows? Perhaps he did. Click here to view a couple funky giant boojums.

Never forget that the Chihuly sculptures are only beautiful guests in this garden. Here are a few more of the inhabitants. Don’t let the soft look of these deceive you. The little spines can hurt!

No subtlety here, just “stay out of my face” spines surrounding lovely, small flowers.

That’s our walk for today. Unfortunately you’ll have to provide your own refreshments but think of all the virtual calories you burned! 🙂

Ethereal

One Word Sunday: real or ethereal

A dreamboat afloat in the desert

Six-Word Saturday 1.29.22

Just FYI, Mom was admitted to the hospital last night and it’s rather serious so I’ll not be around much today and ??? Thanks for your understanding and prayers.

Fantastical Friday

Fantastical: fanciful; unreal; whimsical; capricious; fantastic.

Although I couldn’t get any very good photos of this creation, I think you’ll agree that it certainly is fantastical or any of the synonyms listed above. Can you say sci-fi creatures anyone?

Wordless Wednesday…sparkles and pick up sticks

You gotta go where you wanna go

Dan mentioned how he likes to go where he’s not supposed to go and when I’m close to sculptures like these, it’s all I can do not to touch (a definite no-no.) Look around. No one near? Let’s creep a bit closer, allowing us to appreciate the shapes and lines of Chihuly’s work up close and personal. And oh, the colors!

I can’t resist one more of these. Due to the angle of the shot, the smaller orange shape appears to have a hand to its head (is it “Oh, my!” or “My head’s killing me”?) while the larger one in the middle might be wiping away a tear or getting a speck out of its eye. Meanwhile the blue on the right continues to undulate.

Dancing or standing?

Walking along the path, we peek through the desert foliage to see a small group of colorful columns, some of which seem to be dancing while others stand tall and stately.

I like the way the columns mimic the iconic saguaro cacti; one smooth, one spiky.

Tomorrow we’ll go closer but for today, a final look at the contrasting shapes of these colorful beauties. Don’t the curved ones make you move just a bit? Are you one of the dancers or one of the ones standing calmly and regally?