Life is Full of Ironies

I've lagged on posting because we slid in and out of bed most of Monday with the "bug." But here we are yesterday in St. Petersburg all back in shape again.

The irony was seeing a sign for "Snowfest" on Beach Dr. as we walked past people staying down here from the north to get away from the stuff.

What happens on December 5? Well sixty-five tons of snow will somehow fall on North Straub Park so folks can slide on toboggans, fall down a giant slide, do moonwalks and practice “glice” ice skating. Last Christmas in downtown Puebla, Mexico we watched holiday makers slide down a giant ice slide in the balmy air. It seems that people here in the south yearn for what we escape. How odd. What do they say in France? "The soup is better in the other man's kitchen."

We went to St. Petersburg to see the M.C. Escher exhibition at the Salvador Dali Museum. His work and life documentary was mesmerizing. His passion and intense focus reminded me that to be successful at anything does take those 10 000 hours and more. Escher's intensity was at the expense of his family life.

Oddly, the exhibition comes from the Herakleidon Museum in Athens, Greece, which has one of the world's largest collections of Escher works. 

                       Drawing Hands

               Escher's Scarab Beetle work

                        and mine.

        The Dali Museum.

   Rocks outside the Dali. Can you find the gecko?

But what made St. Pete's really special yesterday was stumbling into the Chihuly Collection and discovering that the beautiful “Fiori di Como,” glass sculpture hanging from the ceiling in Las Vegas' Bellagio’s lobby is by him.

We've been awed twice by its brilliance and both times were so caught up in the crush of people, we missed the name of the artist. The piece cost $10 million but the Bellagio's executive director says it's paid for itself many time over. Every day, 15,000 to 20,000 people come to the hotel-casino’s lobby to see Chihuly’s sculpture.

    The steel armature

Here it is -- 2,000 hand-blown glass blossoms weighing altogether 40,000 pounds and supported by a 10,000-pound steel armature. Every morning between 2 and 5 a.m., a team of eight to 10 engineers cleans and maintains the sculpture. The immensity of such an effort is impossible for me to imagine. Bob and I had a long talk with an employee in the Chihuly Collection and discovered that the ROM is hosting an three month exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work this June. I can't wait.

"CHIHULY to open at the ROM in June 2016 

Internationally-renowned artist Dale Chihuly recently visited the ROM

CHIHULY to be displayed at the Museum from June 25, 2016 to January 2, 2017

Exhibition will feature breathtaking works of art 

(TORONTO, November 5, 2015) — The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announced today an exhibition featuring the extraordinary work of Dale Chihuly. On display from June 25, 2016 to January 2, 2017, CHIHULY will include several astonishingly colourful and dramatic works of art. Acclaimed for his site-specific installations, the Seattle-based artist was in Toronto recently, touring the Museum in preparation for the upcoming exhibition.

“I’m pleased to be able to bring an exhibition of my work to the ROM,” said Dale Chihuly. “Having been on-site at the museum, I’m really looking forward to presenting my work in this uniquely designed space.”

Chihuly has explored the potential of blown glass for over 50 years and his massive installations defy the apparent fragility of the material, astonishing and inspiring his audiences. CHIHULY at the ROM will be an immersive, visual experience for visitors of all ages. CHIHULY will be displayed in the Museum’s Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall. Tickets are expected to go on sale in January 2016.

About Chihuly:

Chihuly is credited with revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement and elevating the perception of the glass medium from the realm of craft to fine art. He is renowned for his ambitious architectural installations around the world, in historic cities, museums and gardens. 

Chihuly’s work is included in more than 225 museum collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass. Major exhibitions include Chihuly Over Venice (1995-96), Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem (1999), Garden Cycle (2001–present), de Young Museum in San Francisco (2008), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2011), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (2012) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal (2013).Chihuly Garden and Glass opened at Seattle Center in 2012."

Chihuly is blind in his left eye, the result of a serious car accident in 1976 in England. Because he lost hi depth perception then, he directs an army of glass blowers in his studio.

These glass sculptures for sale in the store are priced at $7,000 -- 8, 000.

Downtown St. Petersburg, especially along Beach Dr. in the area of the Museum of Fine Arts is lovely and funky at the same time. Only a block away are stately homes and trees from the past.

Funky sculptures along Beach Dr.

and Canadian lobster served in restaurants.

                A tree next to the MFA

      and skyscrapers only a block away from the house below where we parked. 

It was a heady day.

Here is the completed Indian Rock's beach sculpture I wrote about and its back story.

I hope all is well with you. We think of you and home.