Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly (1941-present) developed passion for working with glass while he was studying to be an interior designer.  He was required to take a weaving course and, as a class project, created an innovative tapestry incorporating glass.  Soon afterward he “discovered” glass blowing in his basement and was hooked on the art form with his first bubble.

Chihuly is considered by many to be the greatest living glass artist. He has transformed the art-glass movement into a full body experience that is larger than life.  His work includes towering sculptures, floating spheres, and intricate lighting.

After an auto accident left him blind in one eye, he perfected the team approach to glass blowing.  His works are inspired by nature, and completed, under his direction, by a team of over a hundred glass blowers, engineers, lighting designers, and installers.

READ:

• The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis funded the creation of this fantastic Printable Book.  Keep an eye out for the great unit study ideas for grades 3-5.
• Curious about how his pieces are designed and installed?  Houzz has a fantastic step-by-step collection of photos and instructions.

CREATE:

When was the last time you worked with shrinky-dinks?  Remember how much fun they are?  Well we used the grown-up version, known as shrink-film, to create this 6′ sculpture in our town gazebo.  Isn’t it fun?

The trick is to choose clear film, and color it with sharpie markers. Don’t forget to punch a hole in your pieces!  You can shrink it in the oven for a bit less time than is listed on the package directions, but use rocks to hold it in organic shapes. The other method is to use a heat-gun to free form the pieces individually. I found the heat-gun method to be a bit faster.

For more fun Chihuly inspired art projects check out my Master Artists Pinterest board.

CONSIDER:

Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

So why does the Bible have verses about light?  Well, that light is Jesus.  We can’t see anything in the dark of sin, but when we follow Jesus we walk in the light we are able to see and we can stay far away from the areas that are dark with sin.

Of course we all still sin, but people who live in the light of Jesus, studying the Bible and praying to Him, have God’s help to change their bad habits.  They hate the darkness and love the light of Jesus.