Phoenix, Arizona really couldn’t be more different from my usual haunts! Unbelievably hot, cactus gardens, vast open spaces, the wild west and the Grand Canyon. I love to visit my dear friends in this weird and wonderful part of the world whenever I can, usually on my way home from the Arctic and polar bears – a great way to warm up!

On a visit in 2014 we visited The Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix with their acres and acres of cacti which I thought might be a little…….well you know how many types of cacti can there be? Lots I have learned and fascinating to see especially when interspersed with spectacular glass art by Dale Chihuly.
Chihuly has spent a great deal of time working with his art everywhere in the world but especially on Murano in Venice, the home of glass art and one of my special places in the world. It was in Venice that he started working on his very large pieces with a spectacular exhibition “Chihuly Over Venice”

Throughout the 1970s, influenced by the great glassblowing tradition of Murano, Chihuly experimented with the team approach to glassblowing. Working with a team enabled him to produce architectural glass art of a scale and quantity unimaginable working alone or with only one assistant.

He is the Master in glass that’s for sure. His spontaneity and his sense of perfection are relentless creating truly sparkling masterpieces.

They are absolutely fascinating and his exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens was no exception.  His art seems to work so well with the dry, stark landscape introducing colours that shouldn’t really work but most certainly do.