My husband and I toured the Chihuly exhibit yesterday at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. I knew sort of what to expect, having seen photos of Chihuly glass in other places, but I was still bowled over as we rounded the path to enter the gardens and came upon this sight before we had even entered the gate:
These tall “Desert Towers”, set among the plants, were sparkling in the sunlight. EXTREME sparking! The word that went through my head was MAGICAL (a funny word in our family- long story- sorry, Nevin!). But it indeed seemed magical; I felt like we were entering the Emerald City! Other magnificent glass creations were placed throughout the huge gardens, and we had a great time walking through and encountering each one.
We had never been to the gardens before, so we were also fascinated by the varieties of cacti- and the butterfly garden! I took a zillion photos- three times more than I will use, because I used exposure bracketing, knowing that the harsh, contrasty afternoon light could make for some difficult lighting situations.
Expect more photos to follow. As I said, I took zillions!
melinda anderson photography 
Hi Melinda – yes magical is the word! We are so excited that the exhibit is back and look forward to more photos from you and to visiting it several times this winter! I am enjoying your photos and am glad that we will finally get to meet in January.
Wow! I just went to a Chihuly exhibit at a local museum! It was amazing. No cacti though as it was inside. Just amazing blown glass pieces including one that filled half a room. Of course my camera could not do justice so didn’t even bother.
visited this exhibit last year when it was here in Dallas, fabulous! Nice capture