Chihuly's orange herons among the plants -- Photo by Pat Bean
What marriage of art and nature has amazed you?
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“Great art picks up where nature ends.” Marc Chagall
Travels With Maggie
I love plants and I love art. And when I visited St. Louis a few years ago, I came across the perfect marriage of the pair. Famed glass artist Dale Chihuly and the internationally acclaimed Missouri Botanical Gardens had temporarily married for a wondrous exhibit. .
The joining had taken place in the garden’s geodesic dome greenhouse. As I wandered through the dome, I found myself constantly snapping pictures of man and Mother Nature’s amazing teamwork. When I later looked at the photos I had taken, I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between glass and plants.
Blooming glass -- Photo by Pat Bean
I was reminded again of this memorable summer afternoon when I read a comment made on yesterday’s blog. The reader had noted that the mushrooms illustrating my blog looked like pieces of Chihuly art. I looked at the picture posted on my blog again, and agreed with the observation.
I remember lying awake that night after visiting the gardens, asking myself how a genius like Chihuly had been created. Dedication to his calling? Love of his work? A willingness to make mistakes to learn new methods? Hard work? Patience? A natural talent? Probably all these and more I decided before falling asleep that night.
Dr. Seuss words: “Oh the places you’ll go, and the things you’ll see,” have accompanied me on my journeys in my RV, Gypsy Lee, with my dog, Maggie, now for seven years. Seuss forgot, however, to add “And oh the things you’ll remember.” That’s OK. I did it for him.
Pat Bean's blog 
Absolutely amazing photos, Pat! WOW! You are so right, it is difficult to tell where art leaves off and nature picks up. I am soooooooo jealous! I know we’re not supposed to be jealous but, I’d love to see Chihuly’s work and would have been in 7th heaven if I could do so in a botanical garden no less! Thanks for allowing me to live vicariously through your travels with Gypsy Lee and Maggie!
Pat, How great that you got to see Chihuly’s work at the Missouri Botanic Gardens! I was lucky enough to be teaching a workshop for exceptional high school writers in Miami when his work was at the botanic gardens there, so we did a field trip and writing workshop at the gardens with Chihuly art. That was a fabulous experience! If you and Maggie ever wander to Tacoma, Washington, you’d enjoy the glass museum there with loads of work from Chihuly and the students from the Pilchuck School of Glass.