The Washington D.C. Series

While I was stationed in Maryland, I had the opportunity to see many of the monuments available in the area. Out of all the monuments the Washington Monument is my favorite. The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C. built to commemorate George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States (1789–1797). Located almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest predominantly stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 554 feet 7+11⁄32 inches (169.046 m) tall according to measurements by the U.S. Geodetic Survey in 2013–14 or 555 feet 5+1⁄8 inches (169.294 m) tall, according to the National Park Service's 1884 measurements. It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances. It was the tallest structure in the world between 1884 and 1889, after which it was overtaken by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Previously, the tallest structure was the Cologne Cathedral.

References

1. "Foundation Statement for the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Park"(PDF), National Park Service, retrieved May 20, 2010.

2. Kelly, John (June 19, 2013). "Local: The Washington Monument is tall, but is it the tallest?". Washington Post. Retrieved December 26, 2016.

The Art of the Birds

The human history of depicting birds dates to 40,000 years ago, when Paleolithic artists took to cave walls to capture winged and other beasts. But the art form has peaked in the last four hundred years. The Art of the Birds series showcases how iSantos stretches her imagination, artistic style, and diverse background to showcase different types of birds. The Art of the Bird is a testament to how the intense observation inherent in Art and science reveals the natural world's mysteries.

Glass Slumping and Fusing

Glass lumping and fusing are two unique processes requiring different temperatures in the kiln and must be done at separate times. While slumping allows you to reshape glass, fusing glass enables you to combine sheets of glass that have the same coefficient of expansion and ultimately create unique surface patterns on the glass.