Chihuly Garden and Glass

The last morning we were in Seattle as part of a 19-day excursion with our youngest granddaughter, we took in the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibition. It’s part of the Seattle Center, whose best-known attraction is the Space Needle. A series of five short films are part of the exhibit. They feature Dale Chihuly talking about his approach to some of his exhibitions. Pictures in this blog come from the Seattle exhibit.

Having visited some of his other exhibits, I would have guessed that he was a deep planner, with each piece’s placement well-considered before the glass-blowing began, and then placed in its pre-determined spot. Turns out he’s more of a seat-of-the-pants kind of guy.

Oh sure, he sketches out big pieces, but he’s not a slave to the design. For example, while developing one exhibit, he took great delight in tossing his glass creations into a river to see how they would float together, what patterns they would make, how they would flow, and so on. Kids collected them and stuck them in a large rowboat. Chihuly was so struck by the arrangement the kids made, he included the same concept in several subsequent exhibits, including the one in Seattle.

When Chihuly creates his very large chandeliers, he and his team produce the component parts, but when it comes to constructing each chandelier, serendipity plays a huge part. One film shows the team putting together a new chandelier for an installation. Chihuly stood below and periodically held up a piece and said, “Make sure to include this somewhere. I like this piece.” Later, a small hole in the pattern developed that he commented on several times, making sure they knew it was there and kept it. “After all, nature does the same thing.”

It was clear he enjoyed himself throughout the whole process. When it comes to his art, he has kept the freedom of a child: willing to experiment, follow a wild idea, challenge himself and his partners.

Exiting the exhibit, I was looking forward to the next chance I had to write. Thanks, Dale.

Big and Bold

A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.  ~ Crazy Horse

"If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough." ~ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Africa's first woman president)

Lately, I’ve been rethinking my 2014 writing goals. They are manageable and will keep me plodding forward the rest of the year, but they’re not BIG and BOLD. Honestly, while challenging, they don’t rocket me out of bed in the morning, fired up to write. So, I’ve been considering…should I set an audacious and, hopefully, motivating goal for myself? Or, continue with many small goals?

Glass artist Dale Chihuly doesn’t think small. He turns delicate glass into large-scale sculptures then has the audacity to exhibit them outdoors. Last November I walked among his sculptures displayed at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. I was awestruck by the artist’s creativity and daring. How can these fragile glass sculptures withstand the elements? I imagine many people said it couldn’t be done.

A seemingly unattainable goal like the one President Kennedy set for putting a man on the moon within ten years, captivated and inspired a generation of people to do just that. If he hadn’t set that goal and put a deadline on it, would we still be earthbound?

Awesome is an inadequate word, but the only one I can think of to describe the scope of the Crazy Horse Memorial being carved in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 

The story is inspiring. In 1947 self-taught sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was invited by Chief Henry Standing Bear to carve a memorial in the mountains dedicated to Lakota leader Crazy Horse who was killed in 1877 while under a flag of truce. With only $174 to his name, Ziolkowski began working on the world’s largest in-progress mountain carving. It has become a family enterprise carried out by his children since his death.

Chief Standing Bear and Ziolkowski must have known that neither would live to see the memorial finished, but began it anyway. The memorial’s motto is “Never forget your dreams.”

The dreamer in me believes I should have an audacious goal. However, my practical side recognizes that setting challenging but realistic goals helps ensure that I will complete them. Also, large goals have equally large failure rates.

But, small goals are important, too. I read that it’s good to start each day with a ridiculously easy goal like filing a few papers because when you accomplish one goal, you are motivated to complete more.

I suppose goal size is ultimately subjective—what seems like a BIG goal to me may be SMALL to you. Also, over-the-top goals may need a larger-than-life personality to carry them out.

What are your thoughts about setting goals? Do you have a big, bold writing goal?

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Photo of Crazy Horse Monument courtesy of J. Stephen Conn licensed under Creative Commons.