| Pilchuck is the legendary glass school north of Seattle founded
by Dale Chihuly. Stories abound of its grubby beginnings on a glorious
site on a hillside with a view across the valley. It is not accessible to
the casual visitor because it is a school and its classes are intense. On
the final Sunday of the Glass Art Society Conference, which is devoted to
business meetings and planning the next one, bus trips to the School were
offered and I took one. [For some strange reason, it took five years
before I organized some of the pictures on a web page although I mentioned the
visit on the GAS03SEA page.] |
| Some examples of the architecture of the place, now well
past the camping out stage, although several of the older (and plainer)
buildings are still in place on the property, used as residences, studios,
and offices. The slope roofed building is the main blowing floor.
Since most of the classes are held in the summer, there are no enclosing
walls as can be seen further down. |
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| The main lodge/dining area, etc., showing the structure and
hinting at the view beyond. Similar construction on the right is the
end of a bridge over a narrow canyon.
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| This is one of the older buildings which houses studio
spaces for crafts like stained glass as shown in the next picture down. |
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| Besides the main studio, another building provides
additional flexible space for blowing or casting activities. Note the
light coming in the open wall. |
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| The back part of the main studio, cluttered with moveable
annealers and other support equipment. |
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| Because of the large number of pieces blown by the nearly
professional students, a massive supply of annealers is provided in the main
shed to accommodate thick pieces with long annealing time and many large
hollow pieces. |
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| Another view across the space showing the annealers with
their counterweights. |
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| The crowd gathers along the edge of the studio to watch a
demonstration. |
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| And the demonstration being done - the guy needed bunch of
these pieces. |
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