A flash of color and light A biography of Dale Chihuly

Mentyka skillfully combines biography with art and science in this picture book of celebrated glass artist Dale Chihuly. The title, for example, refers to the astonishing moment at the end of an arduous process when fire, gravity, and air within a furnace and the intensive labor of the glassblower all lead to the transformation of sand into light-transmitting, color-radiating glass. The book's other focus is Chihuly himself, now 82, whose fascination with the changing lights and colors of the ocean near his home in Tacoma, Washington, eventually led to his artwork. Chihuly found inspiration in the stained glass windows of European cathedrals that he visited after college and found community in the new glassblowing studios he formed on his return. The watercolor illustrations beautifully capture the color-and-light-filled quality of Chihuly's glass artworks, while the value of teamwork and resilience (Chihuly suffered the deaths of his brother and father as a child and lost sight in one eye as an adult) are repeated themes. Readers of this book will bring in-depth knowledge and appreciation of Chihuly's art when they encounter one of his works--and they're likely to: Chihuly's glass artworks are exhibited in more than 200 museums worldwide, often appearing as large sculptures in outdoor settings like botanical gardens. Extensive back matter rounds things out.

Mentyka and Couvillion deliver a vibrant portrait of connection in a picture book biography centered on the efforts of Dale Chihuly (b. 1941) to form family. Appreciation for coastal Washington's natural environment shapes the subject's early years, as do the consecutive deaths of his brother and father ("Dale never stopped wishing his family was still together, whole again, not broken"), but it's time abroad that crystallizes his fascination with glass as a medium. Emphasizing risk-taking and teamwork, illuminating, evocative text touches on basic glassblowing techniques amid a lengthy discussion of career twists and turns. Rainbow-hued renderings appropriately underline the eponymous interplay of color and light, with spreads taking on the milky quality of glass and echoing the curvaceous, otherworldly aspects of Chihuly's pieces. Notes, a timeline, and a glossary conclude. Ages 5--9. (Oct.)

Dale Chihuly (b. 1941) was drawn to light, color, and glass from an early age. As a young man, a formative trip to Europe and Israel sparked his interest in glassblowing as an art form. When he returned home, he enrolled in a newly established studio program and perfected his craft among a community of artisans before returning to Venice to learn from the very best. Glassblowing quickly became his life, and when he came back to the U.S., he formed his own distinguished school in the Pacific Northwest and developed his signature style. Not even a devastating car accident -- which required 256 stitches and left him blind in one eye -- could stop him, and after fifty years he remains the preeminent American artist in this medium. Mentyka incorporates an overview of the glassblowing process in her narrative, and Couvillion complements the text with a series of striking illustrations, mostly in double-page spreads, and some detailed depictions of Chihuly's more fanciful creations in the culminating pages. For another biographical treatment for a slightly older audience, check out Greenberg and Jordan's World of Glass (rev. 7/20). Notes, a glossary, and a timeline are appended. Jonathan HuntJanuary/February 2025 p.104 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.