Glassblower challenges integrity of Chihuly art

The Seattle Times ^ | 05/06/2006 | Susan Kelleher

[ladyjane]

Louis Comfort Tiffany of the copper-foil stained glass fame didn't do his own work. He did many of the designs and made many of the important decisions but he had scores of glass blowers and others working in his studio.

Even though he wasn't personally blowing the glass his work is instantly recognizable as his. He never showed his work the Atlantis Casino, the Bellagio or other venues of high art though.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

I can't even touch glass that big; it would shatter through shear bad luck.

Hell, I'm so jinxed, the damn thing would break if I looked at it too closely...

[IronJack]

He hasn't for years...he is missing an eye.

I know.

He directs the glass making process.

I'm not sure that buying a painting "directed" by Van Gogh is the same as buying a painting painted by Van Gogh.

[Sisku Hanne]

No wonder they worship Chihuly there. You have the Columbus College of Art & Design...with an excellent program that has offered a BFA in Glass for decades. It was a school I dreamt of attending decades ago, but my parents could not afford it. So I ended up at a local art academy and then on to a state university for a BE in Art Ed.

My obsession with glass as an artistic medium renders me completely unobjective when it comes to Chihuly. I adore his work.