Ailsa’s Travel Theme: Glass

Ailsa’s  travel theme this week, is ‘Glass’, and if you click on this link, you will be able to see her fabulous photos.

Last year our ladies club organised a trip to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. The glass sculptures on display there were really stunning, and the one which impressed me the most was this really large and intricate one by Beth Lipman. ‘The Banquet’, or ‘Bancketjie’, is a twenty-foot long oak table, upon which are four hundred glass objects, some of which are overturned goblets, half eaten morsels of food, and snuffed out candles. This amazing sculpture was created in the genre of some of the 16th and 17th century Dutch still life paintings in the ‘Vanitas’ style, showing the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transitory nature of worldly goods. We weren’t allowed to take photos, so here’s one I got from Google. It was a wonder to behold, and I couldn’t tear myself away from it, which resulted in my getting left behind when our party moved on to the next room.

The one piece I fell in love with and would have liked to take home with me, was this really delicate ” Late Summer Cactus,” by Flo Perkins. You’d have to see it in real life, to fully appreciate its beauty.

We were taken into a small room with seats all around the edge, and sat for a few minutes admiring this amazing glass ceiling created by Dale Chihuly. It weighs 2000lbs and is really colourful, depicting all kinds of sea creatures, including manta rays, sea snakes, sea urchins, and shells. We weren’t supposed to, but I did manage to sneak a quick photo as we walked out.

On a trip to Venice, we ate at a restaurant called ‘Trattoria Do Fourni’, and besides having the most delicious meal, we had the added pleasure of sitting beneath these gorgeously ornate Venetian glass wall lights.

To see more beautiful entries for Ailsa’s theme, just click here.