Tropical Plants. Spectacular blown art glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly.  That’s on today’s visual plate. Back in December I visited Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables; Miami, Florida. It was filled with an enormous exhibit of sensitively placed Chihuly glass sculptures. I used my tripod. I could get close to the art.  It was the cat’s pajamas.

Since the early 1980s, I’ve admired blown glass made by Chihuly and his assistants (he lost use of an eye in 1976). I’ve seen Chihuly glass in Venice, in Canadian and American art galleries, at the Corning Museum of Glass, at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, on a pedestal in my aunt’s living room, on films, in photographs, and in books.  Observing it staged a botanical garden is the summit of these experiences. I deepened my appreciation for his biomorphic forms by observing the sculptures among varied tropical plants, in several aquatic stagings; all in areas flooded by natural and torched light.

These are just a few of my favorites from the exhibition, which is running through May 31, 2015.

Chihuly at Fairchild | “Fiori Boat”

Chihuly at Fairchild | “White Belugas”

Chihuly at Fairchild | “Neodymium Reeds”

Chihuly at Fairchild | “Walla Wallas”

Chihuly at Fairchild |”Blue Fiori Sun”

Chihuly at Fairchild | “Garden Glass” with ferns and blue koi

To see more and different images from my visit, hop over to my Flickr stream using the link on the right side of the page.