JBR

Stained glass mosaic of a lady in fancy dress resting on a light pad.

Using a light pad to see what you are picking is the only way to do this without screwing it up.

Stained glass mosaic of a woman in fancy clothes, with reflection, based on a 5th century mosaic. Dark grout is being picked using dental tools and a sharpened chopstick. Face has been taped to prevent dark grout bleed.

Dark grout has been applied to the stained glass mosaic. Will dry for 30 minutes before cleaning with sponge, toothbrush and wooden pick. Must vacuum dust frequently to prevent a real mess.

Face of a stained glass mosaic of a woman has been taped with blue painters tape to prevent grout bleed. Using two different colors of grout.

Stained glass mosaic of a woman in fancy clothes pre-grout. The mosaic needs grouting to make the colors pop and to add strength.

Picking out the excess dark grout in the stained glass mosaic of Empress Theodora. What we do for the love of glass art!

Dog on a hill with the sun beginning to rise. Orange yellow glow over the horizon, lit building, trees without leaves. Heard a chorus of spring peepers.

Trees with moon reflected in a puddle.

Recycled MD license plate used as a roof for a birdhouse decorated in the MD flag Colors.

Long shadows cast by the early sun: man walking with a dog through a pass through from housing area to school. Leafless trees at the end of the passage.

Sóla’s Monday AM walk: 46/73%/2MPHWNW. Dogs:6;Runners:1; Cyclists:1. The spring forward takes a toll: Sóla is confused and we feel tired for about a week. Grouted all but Theodora’s face yesterday. Using two colors of grout for the first time. Grout dark. Wait 7 days. Grout light. #Dogsofbluesky

Had to call in the “blue shirts,” building maintenance, to come find the source of the bad smell. It was pretty bad for a few days. That building had more things happen to it or in it than any other place I’ve ever worked.

The garbage of crab guts, cole slaw, corn cobs, beer empties, etc. sat baking/stewing in the dumpster (sits in front of the bldg air intake) over a very long, hot and humid summer weekend. When the employees arrived to work, it smelled like something big had died inside the walls of the building.

Side elevation of a two story brown brick building with dumpster and parking lot. There is a picnic table on the side of the parking lot.

NIH, Bldg. 82 sits within the Oakmont neighborhood & was gifted to NCI by RA Bloch, a CA survivor. The neighbors were unhappy w/federal employees for parking on their streets. One 4th of July, they had a block crab boil and disposed of the crab guts, corn cobs and beer cans, in the Bldg 82 dumpster.

It is very sad. As the owners age, relocate/die, the descendants sell the family homes to the highest bidder. Even stipulating that the new buyer will not tear down, the new buyer tears down. The value of the land > value of the house at this point. So far, our new neighbors have been friendly.

Two story house with finished attic under construction. There is a 35’ height restriction. These builders max out all available building space for maximum profit.

ERB, at one time, had 50 houses under construction in our area. Several of the McMansions built near us were built by them. Two story house with finished basement and attic under construction.

Two story house with finished attic and basement under construction.

Two story house with finished attic under construction. The McMansions dwarf the original houses next door.

A few of the McMansions under construction in our neighborhood: principal new design is the farm house, many will be white with black window dressings. Mixing new designs with original designs within the same neighborhood is known as contextual design. Looks ok sometimes, other times not so much.

This renovated cape is a ten minute bike ride, if you pedal slow, from NIH and very close to two parks. Most of the capes on this street have been replaced by McMansions.

This remodeled 2 story colonial spreads over two lots one block from the entrance to NIH’s gated campus. Ten minute walk to the clinical center. Nice quiet street and very friendly neighborhood.

This cape backs on to the woods and park. Great location for families with kids and dogs.

The man who lived in this little white cape was so friendly. Always left bottles of water out for the trash collectors.

Arylawn capes and one renovated colonial are slated for the excavator in a small area. Builders are paying ~700k-900k or > for the old houses, pulling them down and building ~2.5M McMansions. The taxes are high for these big houses. Nobody wants big lawns anymore, just big houses.

Salmon sky with reflection in the water from a melting snow mound.

Old red karmanghia w/flat tires. Has been parked in this driveway for many years.

Bldg 82, part of NIH/NCI. Two story brown brick building with black glass windows sits across the street from the entrance of NIH’s gated campus. I worked in this building from 1984-1999 and sat in multiple offices.

Dog drinking from a puddle. Overnight rain left wet streets and multiple puddles.

Sóla’s Sunday AM walk: 63/85%/5MPHW. Dogs:16; Cyclists:3; Runners:1; Swingers:1; Houses to be razed:~6; Distance walked:5.1 miles. Sundays, weather permitting, we take a longer walk to see changes in the Wyngate neighborhood. There are multiple new houses w/old to be pulled down. #Dogsofbluesky

Five piles of dichroic glass in a hot spot kiln for their first firing. This was a test fire for the class.

After the fire, the top of the kiln was removed so we could see the glass pendants cooling down. They are still red hot and liquid.

Five piles of dichroic glass, to be placed in the big kiln for firing. Next week, step two will involve cold working the pieces to make the pendants.

Dichroic glass pendants, stage I, making piles: 1st layer, black fusible glass; 2nd layer, dichroic glass; 3rd layer, clear dichroic glass with textures; 4th layer, clear glass. The “piles” will be fired tonight. Next week, the puddles will be cold worked and silver added. Will be a surprise.

Thank you! It turned out well.

9 layers of glass, 5 lbs, four plates, fused three times to form a scene from Yosemite of El Capitan.

A block of glass at a distance. Colors are blue, green and brown.

5” x 7” block of glass.

Looking straight through the block of glass.

Working Deep glass class final- “El Capitan”

Dog and a man walking down a hill.

Dog and a man walking by the front of a new house under construction.

Dog and a man on top of a hill, field below is beginning to green up, heavy clouds and mist in the sky.

Border collie presses in close to send telepathic message to her mom that she wants to go out and the sooner the better.

Walk II: Discussion: the war, DHS and other SNAFUS. Please, Mr or Mrs Sun, could you make an appearance today!

Lola, a 14 YO and deaf standard rough black and white collie. Distant relative of Sóla, our border collie.

A dog biscuit tea party on the street: Two beagles, a brown and white male border collie known as “Memo”, with a disc in his mouth, and an out of sight, border collie. The beagles were hoping for more treats.

Hellebores (pink w/yellow centers) blooming in a “wild” yard.

Witch-hazel blooming in the wild yard. We don’t know why but this “wild” yard always pops early every spring.

Sóla’s Saturday AM walk: 42/90%/6MPHSSE. Dogs:14; Runners:1; Motorcyclists:1; 4th Cloudy/foggy day in a row - Difficult staying motivated with the lack of sunlight. Dichroic glass jewelry class this PM will be cheerful. Looked for but did not see early spring wildflowers in the woods. #Dogsofbluesky

Stained glass (pre grout) mosaic of Emperor Justinian, 5th Century, from photo by M of mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitali, Ravenna.

Stained glass mosaic (pre grout) of Empress Theodora, from a photo by M of a 5th century mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitali, Ravenna.

WIP: Justinian is busy drying out. Theodora has dried out. Will grout Theodora this Sunday in the open studio. Justinian will need to dry out another week or two. Both mosaics have been framed in zinc.

Young doe grazing on the grass beside a black chain link fence. Orange traffic cone marks the edge of entrance to staff parking.

Crane is fitted on wooden blocks before lifting the roof trusses onto the framing for a new house.

Man with a dog on top of a hill.

Bed of snowdrops beside the bike path.

Sóla’s Friday AM walk: 45/92%/6MPHE. Dogs:13; Runners:5; Cyclists:3; Deer:3. Foggy morning with lots of puddles from overnight rain. Earworm last night: “Slide,” Goo Goo Dolls. Squiggy’s (w. Bird dog) dad said he saw three fox kits playing out in the field last night-love fox kits! #Dogsofbluesky

I don’t think I she knows. She is still giving a presser.

She just got handed the pink slip as Secretary of DHS too.

Know who you mean. Hope they are ok. This is also one of the most truly gorgeous areas in the US. My orthopedist’s son and DIL were married at Capitol Reef, for the beauty in it.

Fog has erased houses but we still see the trees.

The fog nearly erases the building in the other side of the field.

Trees and bike path running up hill in the fog.

Baseball diamond in the fog.

The fog, continued.

Slime mold growing on a cherry tree root.

Tree with buds in the fog.

Dog standing on a hill with heavy fog. Playing field below.

A man with dog standing on top of a hill. Through the trees and down below is a green trash bin with “Capitol” printed on it in white letters.

Sóla’s Thursday AM walk: 46/94%/4MPHESE. Dogs:5; Cyclists:2; Runners:5. Foggy, misty and warm. Love walking in the fog - feels good and changes our perspective. Our clothes absorbed the mist though. Finished “Justinian” mosaic yesterday-is drying out now. Can grout “Theodora” now. #Dogsofbluesky

Beautiful!

“Squiggy,” a white bird dog, with a brown circle around his right eye, sits on the grass watching the birds fly by.

Orange tabby cat sitting in a window beside a white ceramic fox.

Runner with Visla in the street. The dog is a reddish short coated hunting dog.

Man with dog on a hill watching people cross the field below to get to the school. Gray sky with cloud cover.

Sóla’s Wednesday AM walk: 45/90%/2MPHNE. Dogs:15; Cats (1/window); Cyclists:1; Skateboarder:1; Runner:1/Visla. Finished 2/3rds of Justinian’s face/neck yesterday-takes forever to complete a micro mosaic. Discussion: squeeze tube caviar - write your name w/on toast in Iceland/Sweden. #Dogsofbluesky

Michael (Redmond) and I do too. Your photos are incredible, BTW!

I had to look it up. Learn a lot following your posts.

Reflection in a puddle with a red leaf, umbrella and large leafless trees.

Snow/ice on a leafless ginko.

Rain melting yesterday’s snow on the playing field.

Man with dog on a hill, snow on the field, baseball diamond, trees and part of a building.

Sóla’s Tuesday AM walk: 30/94%/4MPHSE. Dogs:12. Drizzle with fast-melting snow on the ground. Sóla woke us up at 0400 barking at God only knows what: deer, fox, rain, rabbits. Trying to finish mosaic of Justinian today. Working on the face and it is slow, tedious, back/breaking work. #Dogsofbluesky

Snow on the evergreens.

Snow on the spruce.

Snow on the ginko and other evergreens.

Other porch view with snow.

This might be the last of the winter snows. We can hope!

Beginning to accumulate snow. Will stop soon, I hope.

One inch- conversational snow.

Dog looks at her regular run in the backyard and passes. Tired of the snow.

At an inch now. It can stop at this point!

A tri-colored border collie ready to shake the snow off her fur.

Heavy snow falling in a Bethesda backyard,

Snow beginning to cover deck furniture.

Here you come again! What used to bring excitement and joy to my dog got old a while ago. Sóla is over it!