hummanities

[STUDENT NAME]

Professor Christie Rinck

HUM 1020

26 July 2015

Final Creative Art Project: Proposal

Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor who was born September 20, 1941 in

Tacoma, Washington. He is considered the most influential artist in glass blowing, and says his

inspirations come from many different places including architecture and nature. His biggest

artistic influences include Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Van Gogh, and Frank Lloyd Wright

(Burgard, 2008). His work is featured in more than 200 museum collections around the world.

Dale Chihuly’s artwork in interesting to me because of its uniqueness- there are many artists who

use paints or chalks, but few who blow glass. I have seen a few local artists create glass

sculptures growing up, in flea markets or malls, but in my there is no artist who compares to

Chihuly.

Chihuly studied interior design at the University of Washington and received a M.S. in

sculpture from the University of Wisconsin (Yood, 2015). He received an M.F.A. in ceramics

from the Rhode Island School of Design, and soon traveled to Italy and worked in a

distinguished glassblowing workshop in Murano. When he returned to the United States in 1969,

he created the Rhode Island School of Design glassblowing program and established the

Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle (Yood, 2015). In 1976, Chihuly was in a car accident that left

him blind in one eye, which greatly hurt his depth perception. From this point forward, he relied

on assistant glassblowers to execute his designs. His vibrantly colored, unique glass creations

were immediately distinguishable in his many series, such as Blankets, Seaforms, and

Chandeliers. Dale Chihuly first blew a bubble into stained glass inside of his basement, almost

four decades ago. He has loved glass since he was a young boy, and since that first moment in

his basement, he has spent his life looking for new and creative ways to blow glass into many

unique forms.

Chihuly once said “I don’t think much about the past. I think more about the future. I

prefer to be thinking about what I want to be doing tomorrow (Burgard, 2008).” I really admire

his optimistic attitude, and it is another reason that I would like for my final project to use David

Chihuly’s artwork as a starting point.

For my final project, I would like to create a few pieces of artwork similar to Chihuly’s

Macchia collection.

Derived from Latin,

the Italian word

“macchia” means

stain or spot.

However, the choice

of title for this

selection moves

beyond the literal meaning and attempts to emphasize spontaneity and the relationship between

artist and nature (Hobbs, 1993).

I will be attempting to create similar pieces using overhead transparencies, permanent

markers, a heat gun, and some sort of shape to mold around. Instead of blowing glass, I will

essentially be sculpting with melted plastic. I will also like to attempt different pattern schemes

than Chihuly often uses to capture his uniqueness as an artist. First, I will be cutting the

transparencies into different sizes and organic shapes and then color them in with permanent

marker in different hues. Then I will place them over a mold, likely a ceramic pot, and heat them

into different shapes. Since I have never tried this technique or anything like it before, I am sure

it will take me many tries to create something that satisfies me. Once I am happy with all of my

pieces, I may fixate them to a stationary board as a permanent holding place for them. I am not

sure how long this project will take me to complete, but I estimate it will take me a total of 5-7

days to accomplish it. A social angle that relates to this style of artwork is body and mind.

Glassblowing is a modern abstract art that comes from the imagination. Without the endless

creativity of the human mind, Dale Chihuly’s art would cease to exist.

Timeline Detail:

 Gather materials—2 hours

 Cut the transparencies into different sizes and organic shapes and then color them in with permanent marker in different hues.—6 hours

 Place them over a mold, likely a ceramic pot, and heat them into different shapes.—6 hours

 Affix the pieces to a stationary board as a permanent holding place for them.—6 hours

 Total project will span 5-7 days depending on how many times I mess up

Works Cited

Burgard, Timothy. "Chihuly the Artist: Breathing Life into Glass | Chihuly." Chihuly the Artist:

Breathing Life into Glass | Chihuly. 2008. Web. 27 July 2015.

Hobbs, Robert. "Reflections on Chihuly's Macchia | Chihuly." Reflections on Chihuly's Macchia

| Chihuly. 1993. Web. 27 July 2015. <http://www.chihuly.com/reflections-chihuly’s-

macchia>.

Yood, James. "Dale Chihuly | Biography - American Artist." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.