Quality Impressions Photography - Ryan Blythe Installation at ESD Architecture, Charlotte, NC July 3, 2009

06:07 pm - Ryan Blythe Installation at ESD Architecture, Charlotte, NC July 3, 2009

Today, I had the opportunity to observe the installation of an incredible piece of work by Ryan Blythe (see www.blytheglassstudio.com/) at ESD Architecture (see also www.esdarch.com/).  Ryan had been commissioned by Clay Elder, principal of the architecture and design firm, to create a glass art piece of the main staircase (in ESD's offices in a old textile building they renovated).

While the installation took most of the day (approximately 450 hand blown pieces from Ryan and his crew), the final results were stunning (see the slideshow at www.qiphotography.com/ on left under Events), especially since the piece itself is lit internally with a  bank of LEDs.  You can get a sense of the scale from the photo above showing Mark (the installer) standing on an eight foot ladder to reach the top pieces.  Notice that the bottom 'flower' is approximately 2" off the floor.

Clay Elder had designed a winch and pulley system (the pulleys themselves were left over from the old building's lift for cotton bales).  This image shows the piece raised to height.