Chihuly Nights

Last evening the man and I went to see Chihuly Nights, a glass art installation at the New York Botanical Gardens, with music, cocktails, and food under the stars. It was hard to capture the drama of the illuminated glass forms with my iPhone camera, and my husband decided that we will have to go back so he can photograph the pieces with his Nikon set up. Dale Chihuly is a glass artist who works out of Seattle, with a team of glass blowers. The work is really breathtaking. These pictures don't begin to do justice to the experience of being in their presence. The evening was hot, wet, and muggy, but we enjoyed strolling through the gardens in the dark, feeling the spitting rain, and coming upon these moments of spectacular color. They appeared lit from within, vibrant against a silhouette of trees, plants, people, sky. The shapes seemed entirely organic, enchanted even, as if they grew where they are, yet each individual piece was fashioned by human breath working its magic on hot molten glass. Here are but a few of the installations. If you're interested, this map has clickable dots that open up daylight images and info about these and other Chihuly pieces in the sprawling gardens-wide exhibit.