I did not plan it, but from Thursday, my birthday, to last Thursday I visited the Chihuly exhibit four times. Although obviously overkill, it was an interesting exercise and enabled me to more precisely define my feelings about Chihuly. As I mentioned previously, I loved the show in Chicago, did not love it in New York, and loved it here, at least the first two times.

I went to the show last Tuesday for the second time. My class let out early, it’s nearby and I had nothing better to do. At that time I bought myself a ticket for Chihuly at night. I never managed to see the show at night in Chicago. Seeing the show at night in the Bronx turned out to be a nightmare, but I decided I had to try one more time. After a pleasant visit on Tuesday I returned Wednesday evening for a night viewing. It doesn’t get really dark here until about 9 pm meaning there was still some daylight as I walked through parts of the exhibit. Mostly it was dark enough to see the effect lights have. Sometimes it was spectacular, but often I felt the daylight spectacle was just as good, in some cases even better. Here is a photo of the full moon peeking over the Japanese garden, flanked by Chihuly.

Someday I may take only dark photos.

I took this photo too early in the evening. Both the Chihuly and the Cathedral are lit at night and might make a better picture. Maybe I’ll go back when it starts to get dark earlier.

In the meantime I got a call from old friends who were visiting here inviting me to meet them at the Phipps on Thursday morning. Back I went. I think I was Chihulyed out, but it was OK; I had a good time visiting with my friends.

My decision about Chihuly: I like it best when the pieces are made part of the plantings; often the plants are more interesting than the glass. The combination is greater than the sum of its parts.

Coming soon: a Chihuly album with pictures from both the Phipps and the Bronx.