Eben's Competition
 

Stayed up all last night (training for sleep deprivation :D ) and there was a show on PBS about some freaky one-eyed glass blower that was making these MASSIVE blown glass "chandelier" scuptures and mounting them along the canals in Venice Italy . . . never caught the guys name but I'm sure Eben knows it. Was filmed in 1998.

And just to keep the thread on topic . . . one of the scuptures had all glass marine creatures - a sawfish, hammerhead shark and others attached.


Cool stuff.

ahh that would be Dale Chihuly. He is probably the most famous glass artist alive, and is a controversial one amongst us glass people because he doesnt even make his own work, he pays others to do it for him. A bowl made by his team sells for $25,000.00 and those chandeliers sell for up to millions.

He was setting up the Glass Program at RISD when my wife was a student there. The man is a frickin' genius. He doesn't blow his own glass since he lost that eye . Can't take the chance with the other.

his stuff is absolutely out of this world. I think he lives in Seattle. I saw his stuff up close 5 years ago on my honeymoon in Napa. There was a big chandalier at Mondavi and a 20 foot tall fountain at Niebaum-Copola. Totally amazing. I probably have pictures somewhere...lets see....nope.

Yup that's him I recognize the name after I saw it . . . I thought he was teaching "apprentices" . . . didn't know they were employees :huh:

I always figured it was like a Professor getting credit for his Grad. Students research. He came up with the designs guides the work and made a name for himself... But for $25K I would want something he made himself. The older stuff he did himself must be worth millions.
_Z_