Tiffany glass

Wednesday
It was a rather gloomy day today, so a good day for an indoor activity. My friend E. and I went down to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the Tiffany Glass exhibit, which comprised 5 or 6 glass panels or windows, and quite a large number of his table lamps and hanging lamps. Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848 -1933) was one of the most creative and prolific designers of the late 19th century. Although his father, Charles Lewis, had founded the most prestigious silver jewelry company in America, Louis chose another professional direction. Originally trained as a painter, he began studying the chemistry and techniques of glassmaking when he was 24. He declared that his life-long goal was “the pursuit of beauty", and was convinced that nature should be the primary source of design inspiration. Intoxicated by color, he translated into glass the lush palette found in flowers and plants. This fascination with nature and with extending the capabilities of the medium led to the exploration and development of new techniques.
It was a very interesting and beautiful exhibit and we both really enjoyed it. After we'd seen the Tiffany exhibit, we had a browse through a small part of the regular collection, before enjoying a good lunch at the cafe. Whilst I should have liked to explore some more, E. thought she should be getting home. Later in the afternoon I had a long Skype session with Laura. Having finished teaching at her school in Bucharest, she has spent the last three weeks at a school in England, as the final requirement in the process to obtain a British teaching license, in addition to her American license. Today was her final assessment, and she was very excited to tell me she had passed. As things have turned out, she won't need it in her next position, as next year she will be at an American school in Kuwait! Much to her disappointment, she learned earlier in the year that her (British) school in Bucharest wasn't going to renew her contract, and despite months of sending out resumes and applications to other schools in Europe, was having no luck, so decided to expand her search to include Asia and the Middle East, and when this school in Kuwait offered her a job, she felt she couldn't turn it down. I must admit I'm not thrilled about it, but she's a very capable and adventurous young woman, so I shall have to try and come to terms with it!