Flint Institute of Arts

Sunday was the last day for the Flint Institute of Arts exhibitions of Lino Tagliapietra art glass and Tiffany Glass. R had been wanting to see both of these all summer long but we were never able to work it into our schedule so Sunday was a make or break day. An added plus of going to the FIA is you get to look at the large glass chandelier by Chihuly that hangs in the lobby.

The weather was extremely hot so it was a welcome relief to be indoors looking at fabulous art glass. The Tiffany glass was to die for and goes without saying that Tiffany lamps are breathtakingly beautiful. Not only are the designs pleasing but the glass itself is beautiful.We have a Tiffany reproduction chandelier in the dining room. It is call a turtle back design. I always thought that it referred to the shape but I found out that it refers to the bulbous green pieces of glass that are incorporated into the design. Learn something new every day.

Lino Tagliapietra's art glass was spectacular. He uses a lot of colored rods to achieve thin pin strips in his designs. We speculated on how he was able to get them so perfect and after watching a film we now know how he does it. He lays the rods out on a table evenly spaced. He makes sure his glass is just the right size so that when he lays the glass on top of the rods that they completely encircle the glass glob. It fascinating that they are able to do this with heavy molten glass.I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a rather large crowd at the FIA. More people=bigger and better exhibitions in the future.