While I was visiting Tacoma last month, I stayed at Hotel Murano, and for a glass lover like me, it was the perfect place to stay! The hotel celebrates Tacoma’s incredible connection to glass art, and you start seeing it before you even get through the front door. I was immediately fascinated by the enormous green glass walls surrounding the entrance. Up close, you can see that they’re made from layer upon layer of narrow strips of glass, creating this wonderful texture that changes depending on the light and where you’re standing. Even the entrance canopy incorporates thick panels of glass overhead. Naturally, I had to get right up next to the wall to study it—and, yes, take a selfie with it. 😂 Apparently, I can’t even check into a hotel without examining how the glass was made! 💚
Once inside, the glass doesn’t stop at the front door. Hotel Murano is filled with glass art throughout its main public areas, so simply walking around the hotel became part of the experience for me. There were delicate pieces displayed in cases, large landscape panels, sculptural works, and an incredible installation of colorful glass boats suspended high above the atrium. I kept finding myself stopping, looking up, walking around pieces, and getting closer to see how they were constructed. And then there is that gorgeous clear-glass chandelier, which practically begs you to stand underneath it and look up! Staying here felt a little like spending the night in a glass museum—which, as you can imagine, was not exactly a hardship for me. 😂❤️
One of my favorite things about Hotel Murano is that the glass experience continues all the way up the building. Each guest floor highlights a different internationally recognized glass artist, so naturally I spent some time riding the elevators and exploring! 😂 The directory alone reads like a who’s who of contemporary glass, including William Morris, Toots Zynsky, Dante Marioni, Preston Singletary, Susan Taylor Glasgow, Miriam di Fiore and many others. Each floor has its own personality, with displays introducing the featured artist and showcasing their work. This was especially fun for me because I actually took a class from Miriam di Fiore years ago, so seeing her name and work featured at the hotel brought back some wonderful memories. Some of my other favorites were the beautifully stitched glass corset by Susan Taylor Glasgow, the haunting figures and faces, the delicate landscapes, and those pieces that made me stop and think. For me, exploring the floors was almost as much fun as visiting a glass museum—and I didn’t even have to leave my hotel! ❤️
Of course, no glass-filled trip to Tacoma would be complete without another visit to the Chihuly Bridge of Glass. One of my favorite parts is the incredible Seaform Pavilion, where you literally walk beneath a ceiling packed with colorful Chihuly glass. Looking up, there are hundreds of pieces layered together—ruffled bowls, spirals, flowers, shells, twisting forms and shapes that I’m not even going to attempt to identify! 😂 The closer I looked, the more little details I discovered. With the light shining through all those overlapping colors and patterns, it almost feels like looking up through some fantastical glass garden or underwater world. And naturally, I took far too many pictures because every few feet I spotted something else I wanted to examine. This is definitely one of those pieces you don’t just look at—you get completely lost in it. ❤️
Between the incredible glass at Hotel Murano, discovering a different artist on every floor, seeing the work of artists I’ve admired—and even one I’ve been lucky enough to learn from—and walking beneath that spectacular ceiling of Chihuly glass, I was surrounded by inspiration everywhere I went. I came home with lots of photographs, a book explaining all the artist’s work, and probably a few new techniques I want to figure out. 😂 Tacoma really does embrace its glass history in a way I haven’t experienced anywhere else. For this glass lover, it was pretty close to the perfect place to spend a few days. ❤️🔥
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my site and my Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Karen
