My fasc with glass

I don't know when or how my obsession with glassware and glass objet d'art came about, all I know is that I love the stuff. I'm forever fascinated by the colors, the swirls, the textures, the composition, how versatile it is, and how glass looks like liquid frozen in time. Plus it just makes me go: "Oooh preeety!" I have my own small "glass menagerie", but I'm always looking to expand it (of course, yet another thing on my long list of "to do's" when I start working again).

Case in point, my own photo set on Flickr featuring my favorite artist, the ultimate guru of glass, Dale Chihuly. Of course he has his own site here. What that man can do with blob of molten silica is beyond astonishing. That he does it with only one eye (from a car crash years ago), is even more amazing (try covering one eye and driving some time). Another favorite is Blenko glass, ubiquitous and cheap in the 40s-60s, now coveted by collectors, including me. Here are a few bright and shiny glass tidbits of interest. Click on any picture to enlarge: