Museum Quality Glass

I spent the past weekend in Tacoma, Washington.  I attended a math conference but on the very last day, after the final speech, I went out with others to lunch.  After lunch, we did a bit of sightseeing in the downtown area.  We didn't have a lot of time so we stopped through the Museum of Glass gift shop.  They had so many wonderful things.

This set looks like knitting made out of glass strands.  The stitches look quite real and the needles are so cool.  I never realized one could create something this realistic out of glass.  Each and everyone is a different knitted project.

These birds are so cute.  They are all perched on a table across from the knitted glass.  None of the two are the same even if they share the same colorations.  

This wall is filled with birds of different colors and styles.  I didn't get a picture of the cool penguin with its black and white stripped suit and dark black hat.  I was down to about 25% power so I could only take a few.

These are bee's standing on top of a bee hive.  Each bee is an individual and so cute.  In the back, behind the window is a set of clear glass objects that seem to be part of a water display but are under renovation.  

I couldn't believe these are made out of glass. They are so delicate, looking as if they are made of threads.  They remind me of those guns that melt plastic so you can make three dimensional objects out of the plastic threads.  They look as if they have beads woven into the structures.

There was so many glass pieces.  Several looked as if they had jellyfish floating inside while others displayed a technique with stripes and small bubbles inside, or spheres that appear to hold various space items such as planets or stars and are so beautiful.  They even had hanging glass bulbs, each with swirling colors and so much depth you wanted to walk into them, just to explore the beauty.  I could not afford most of the art there because the pieces ranged from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

I hope to go back someday to enjoy the whole museum but until then I can enjoy the little taste I had. Tomorrow, I'll share pictures from the Venetian wall leading to the museum and possibly a few shots of the ceiling of the bridge.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.