Fugue in Four Voices

November 22, 2025 in New Work

I so enjoyed making my Fugue in Three Voices that I decided to try one in four voices. I wanted to address an aesthetic that I did not achieve in the three voice fugue. With this one, I’m still not quite there. The challenge is to balance the desired aesthetic with a fugue structure. I’m not trying to be exactly true in its fugueness, but true enough to make it fugue-y. (Makes sense, right?)

*Fugue in Four Voices* (2025) 11” x 27” | 28cm x 69cm. Mosaic gold (Orsoni 002 006, 010, 014), charcoal cement

How This Fugue Works

For a little more info about fugues in general, refer to my Fugue in Three Voices post.

This fugue is made up of nine 6 x 20 grids.

The voices are as follows:

1st voice - white gold (Orsoni 002 gold which appears white relative to the other shades)

2nd voice - pale yellow (Orsoni 006 gold)

3rd voice - gold (Orsoni 010 gold)

4th voice - light copper (Orsoni 014 gold)

The exposition is as follows:

Grid 1 - 1st voice introduces the subject

Grid 2 - 2nd voice enters with the subject; 1st voice is countersubject

Grid 3 - 3rd voice enters with the subject; 2nd voice is countersubject; 1st voice is free counterpoint

Grid 4 - 4th voice enters with the subject; 3rd voice is countersubject; 2nd and 1st voices are free counterpoint

The exposition is complete once the 4th voices enters. The remainder of the fugue is as follows:

Grid 5 and 6 - episodes in all four voices

Grid 7 - episode in first 3 voices

Grid 8 - episode in first 2 voices

Grid 9 - 1st voice ends the fugue with the original subject

After the first of the year, I want to try a fugue in five voices. I’m still trying for a better/different balance between the aesthetic and the fugue structure, and I am loving the challenge. There are fugues in seven voices but I’m going to stop at five; it gets really confusing working with multiple shifting voices. I’ve been working on the five-voice design in which my current plan is to use 13 grids, each 5 x 30. Regardless of whether or not I achieve the aesthetic for which I am striving, it will at least be very pretty: Orsoni gold is a treat to work with!

D Major (The Sound of Green)

July 13, 2025 in New Work, In the Woods Series

Work in progress:

I’m enjoying working loosely on this one.

D Major (The Sound of Green) 20” x 30” Shale, smalti, mosaic gold

Green Fire

A Little Joy Breaks Through

Dueling Mosaics

November 02, 2024 in General, New Work

Above left: Green Fire by Jacqueline Iskander 10” x 6” Marble, mosaic gold, porcelain, ammolite speciman

Above right: A Little Joy Breaks Through by Tracy Hodson 10” x 6” Marble, mosaic gold, beads, amethyst and fluorite specimens

Tracy and I decided to each make a mosaic during her visit here. We developed a casual list of requirements to which we would each adhere:

Vertical orientation with substrate size of 10” x 6”
Use a feature subject with a field-type of background
Background of stone and/or smalti and mosaic gold
Work in a vertical andamento

The above mosaics are the result of our duel, although we weren’t really dueling at all. Just having fun!

Green Fire

October 28, 2024 in Informative, New Work

Above: Green Fire 10” x 6” Marble, mosaic gold, porcelain, ammolite specimen

My friend Tracy Hodson is visiting for a few days and we decided to each make a small mosaic. I’m recovering from foot surgery and wanted to work casual: very relaxed and loose.

I bought a couple of ammolite specimens while in western Canada and wanted to use one of them for this mosaic. They are very sensitive to the light so very challenging to photograph. Here are some detail shots of the ammolite to give you a better idea:

About Ammolite:
“Ammolite is the coloured gemstone that comes from Canadian ammonites with a distinct, and vibrant rainbow colour. Globally, these are only found along the St. Mary River, south of Lethbridge, in Western Canada. This stunning iridescent gem, received its official gemstone status by the World Jewelry Confederation in 1981.” —Ammolite Museum Find out more.

In Wait

September 27, 2024 in New Work, Decorative

My next project has been in wait for over 3 years now, waiting for me to literally fill in between the lines. Now that I’m back in my studio again, I’ve decided how to finish these out. I settled on a couple of shades of Orsoni gold: 002 and 006. Stay tuned…

Eden's Promise

September 25, 2024 in Andamento, New Work

This is a piece I started about 3 or 4 years ago. It needed a little rethinking, which I managed to conjure up a few months ago. The background andamento was a nice challenge for me, as well as the soft gradation in the middle section.

**Eden’s Promise** (2024) 19.5” x 15” Smalti, marble and travertine, shale, mosaic gold

OSU № 4 and № 5 of 5

February 10, 2022 in New Work

Good to have this project finished! I completely forgot to take pics of № 2 and № 3, but they do all look basically the same.

I intentionally made very minor changes amongst the five in the background buildings so each one would be different. Also, the sky is a little different on each one with variations in the amount of movement. I worked the sky free form, without a pattern, and I think I enjoyed that part the most of the whole project.

OSU Commission, № 1 of 5

October 18, 2021 in New Work

So, that potential commission that I blogged about did come through after all. It was a bit of a lengthy, touch-and-go kind of process, and I actually thought it had gone and was not going to happen. But then, after another month, I heard from them and they were ready to move on it.

Oklahoma State University is developing a medical complex in downtown Tulsa. It is not complete yet, but they wanted mosaics of the skyline with the actual and future OSU buildings. It was not easy to get the right view as the complex is rather spread out. They wanted five “table top” pieces, which they defined as being as much as 24” wide. Eventually, they were able to get a couple of good Google Earth images from which I could work.

Below is the image that I used to create the to-scale drawing that follows. The Google Earth image was very small, however, and it was tricky to translate some of the buildings and/or features. In a 9” x 24” mosaic, on their time frame and within their budget, I could not get very detailed. We needed to bring out the OSU buildings and visually tie them together, even though the complex is not finished. So I honed in on the OSU orange and used it, along with more detail, to help make the OSU buildings visually prominent. So all the front buildings with the bright orange are the OSU buildings. The background buildings that look a paler orange are actually more of a terra cotta color, which you can see in the finished first mosaic.

My rendering of the Goggle Earth image, created using the Procreate app. This rendering included some future construction

Initially, they wanted all five—gifts for donors—by Christmas, but I was not comfortable committing to that. So they asked for three of them by Christmas. Confident that I could do that, and with an approved budget, we signed a contract, effective Oct. 1.

I started the first one (below) before Oct. 1, as I had material on hand and really wanted to get a good idea of how much time I needed, how much detail I could manage, and generally work out any issues. I am now starting the second one.

Tulsa/OSU Skyline 9“ x 24” | 23cm x 61cm. Vitreous glass. Digitally framed.

The vitreous glass is a mix of French Opio and Italian Bisazza, and also Trend. Yes, that Bisazza is old, as well as the Opio, neither of which are available now, although Bisazza is basically Trend now, if I have that right. I priced the work for them using either vitreous or smalti and they chose the vitreous. It is less expensive, I had a good amount in inventory, and I thought it more practical for this project, considering the time issue. I knew I would be using a lot of straight cuts and thought vitreous would be a little easier—translate to faster—than smalti. Still, vitreous has its own issues, like dealing with those darned mitered edges. And the Opio is the hardest vitreous I have every worked with!

The only issue that I encountered was the grout. I was hoping to use a single color for the sky as for the non-sky, but after grouting it all in a mix of half gray thin set and half white, I thought the sky grout lines were a little too dark. However, I did not want to go any lighter for the non-sky part. I felt like it was important for the grout lines to show to help give definition for the buildings and the mid-gray works well for the buildings, whether light or dark. So I reworked the sky grout using 2-1 parts of white to gray thin set and was much happier with it.

Their initial idea was for the five smaller panels, and then a very large one to be installed in one of the buildings. I don’t think the idea for the large mosaic has been settled upon yet.

End-of-Malaise Bottle?

August 21, 2021 in Decorative, New Work

Since last November, I’ve been totally lacking in mosaic motivation. I attempted a couple of projects only to leave them lingering on my work table, destined to be abandoned. At first, I was a little concerned, but I decided to just go with it and see what happened. If, after some unidentified period of time, I still lacked mosaic mojo, so be it. I’ve just been living life without mosaicking for almost a year, and it has been a very productive time, just not mosaically.

Then, a few of weeks ago, I invested a good chunk of my weekend on a possible commission design. The potential client had been trying to work out a project for months. Each time I thought I would not hear from them anymore, I would hear from them. So, once again, they contacted me and I really did want to help them resolve things, moving ahead with or without me.

I prepared a design with which I could give good cost and time estimates and sent it to them. I highly suspected it was beyond their budget as well as time frame, but I gave it my best shot. Not having heard back from them, I am once again guessing that they have moved on without me.

Spending the time on that design was very good for me, however, and I think it helped to prod me back to mosaic. Well, time will tell about that. Anyway, I decided to mosaic a bottle while I was developing an art piece idea. And here is the bottle.

Amber, Copper, and Gold Bottle 8.5” x 4” | 22cm x 10cm. Vitreous, mirror and Van Gogh glass on Hendrick’s gin bottle. — *Amber, Copper, and Gold Bottle* 8.5” x 4” | 22cm x 10cm. Vitreous, mirror and Van Gogh glass on Hendrick’s gin bottle.

The main shape of the bottle was easy to work with. The 1/4” squares were cut to size by Mosaics By Maria. The top, however, proved to be a little more demanding. I ended up having to wedge most of the top pieces. It’s not my favorite palette, but I the materials left over from something else.

It did actually feel good to have a project again, and I think I am ready to move on to the art piece. Perhaps my mosaic doldrums have come to an end? Let’s find out!

Dream of Asturias 12” x 10” | 30cm x 25cm. Smalti, Kismet glass, stone and metal specimens from the northern coast of Spain, Oklahoma shale. Inspired by the photographs of Luis Laso Casas. — ***Dream of Asturias*** 12” x 10” | 30cm x 25cm. Smalti, Kismet glass, stone and metal specimens from the northern coast of Spain, Oklahoma shale. Inspired by the photographs of Luis Laso Casas.

Been Slumpin'

April 11, 2021 in New Work

As you can see, my last blog post was in November when I finished the rooster commission. That commission is the last mosaic I completed. I’ve not been able to find the motivation to work much since then. Sure, I started something in December, only to leave it sit, and sit, and sit on my work table. I’ve been in quite a slump.

In the last month, I’ve made a bit of progress on it (above) and am determined to finish it. And I will. But I’ve never experienced such a prolonged lack of motivation to mosaic. I’ve questioned whether it is time for me to let it go and move on. To what, I don’t know.

But I am not ready to let it go. I sense there is more mosaic in me. Curious, though, as to why I might be experiencing this. As distressing as it is to lack motivation, inspiration, and a need to create, I think this is actually a good thing.

I do believe that Covid has a lot to do with it. The isolation of the last year has left me feeling unplugged, which I suppose makes sense for the state of isolation. Being unplugged, I have lost any sense of competition—or trying to prove myself—which I can now see was a contributing aspect of my creative motivation. I can see it now only due to its lack.

There has been a sense of what’s the use? And I have found that to be a very important question. Indeed, what is the use? Maybe there is no use if I’m solely motivated by a need to prove myself. I went through a few months where my mantra was I just don’t care. Again, distressing, but at the same time, liberating.

Some days, I felt like it should just be enough to get through the day—to do some laundry, go to the store, cook dinner, play some piano or chess, exercise a bit, sit outside in the sun with our dog Lucy. Why can’t that be enough? Do I need to be Jacqueline Iskander mosaic artist to be happy? To be fulfilled? To feel worthy?

No. I found I was fairly content. I just needed to give myself some time to move through this. First, I gave myself until the end of January to reassess things. Then until the end of February. Well, here we are moving through April and I’m feeling the need to do something about this stalemate.

I’m trying to finish that little piece I started back in December, and it is a bit of an effort. It is a departure for me and I’ve struggled to keep with it. It was just meant to be fun, and that seems to have taken the fun out of it for me. Again, back to what’s the use? Why can’t fun just be enough? Especially with creativity. Because of that need to prove something? To produce serious art? To prove that I am an artist?

So, the inner struggle to understand who I might be if I am not trying to prove something continues. I have a few ideas for future work, but they are all just bouncing around in my head and nothing yet bubbling up to the surface. I’m trying to be okay with this and give it more time. Trying to resist thoughts like: If I quit, what would I do with all this stuff? What would I do with the rest of my life? And I find myself in a place I’ve found myself a few times before in my life, that of breaking free of an identity.

Thank you Covid!

Gaglio Rooster Commission 17” x 17” | 43cm x 43cm. Smalti, vitreous, iridescent glass. — *Gaglio Rooster Commission* 17” x 17” | 43cm x 43cm. Smalti, vitreous, iridescent glass.

Rooster Commission Finished

November 13, 2020 in New Work

This rooster is heavily inspired by a photo provided by the client. They did not want the rooster to be in a natural environment and requested something more plain.

I really enjoyed this project as I don’t usually work with so much color. However, working those tail feathers in that andamento was a challenge.

At left is a photo taken from a perspective slightly below and looking a bit upward. I was trying to capture more iridescence. Tricky. But I like the way you can see a little dimensionality in the rooster feet. The vitreous is thinner than the smalti so he does pop a bit from the background.

As for the edges, the clients were not sure if they wanted to frame it and wanted the edges to be done in a way as to be acceptable without a frame. I did not want to take the vitreous all the way to the edge because that kind of edge is vulnerable to chipping and tiles coming loose over time. I handled it in a manner that I thought was interesting on its own but that could also be covered up with a frame.

The background colors were chosen to coordinate with the countertop, at right.

Study in Moderation № 10

September 01, 2020 in Study in Moderation, New Work

This is the final piece for this study. I had intended to do two more but I’ll explain in my next post. I’ll also opine about this project and how I think it went.

That is a very dark orange mosaic gold plate that I used.

Study in Moderation № 10 (2020) 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm. Marble, mosaic gold, smalti transparenti. — *Study in Moderation № 10* (2020) 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm. Marble, mosaic gold, smalti transparenti.

Study in Moderation № 10, alternate lighting — *Study in Moderation № 10*, alternate lighting

Study in Moderation № 10, detail — *Study in Moderation № 10*, detail

Study in Moderation № 9

August 28, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

I have a few gold plates leftover from my Theme and Variations: All Dreams that I finished earlier in the year, and they rather stumbled me upon this idea. I’m thinking that I will follow this theme for the remaining three studies.

Study in Moderation № 9 (2020) 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm. Marble, mosaic gold, smalti. — *Study in Moderation № 9* (2020) 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm. Marble, mosaic gold, smalti.

Study in Moderation № 9, alternate lighting — *Study in Moderation № 9*, alternate lighting

Study in Moderation № 9, detail — *Study in Moderation № 9*, detail

Study in Moderation № 8

August 23, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

I think I’m getting the hang of it!

Study in Moderation № 8 (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Marble, mosaic gold, decorative ceramic, shell. Digitally framed. — *Study in Moderation № 8* (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Marble, mosaic gold, decorative ceramic, shell. Digitally framed.

Study in Moderation № 8, alternate lighting — *Study in Moderation № 8*, alternate lighting

Currently, I’m planning on making four more and then moving on to something a little more serious. But these have been fun and very worthwhile. It will be interesting to see how I might incorporate this more relaxed execution into my next large work later in the year.

Study in Moderation № 8, detail — *Study in Moderation № 8*, detail

Study in Moderation № 7

August 16, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

Finally, I was able to get a more relaxed execution with a flowing andamento. I like the way this one turned out.

Study in Moderation № 7 (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Marble, smalti, turquoise, mosaic gold. — *Study in Moderation № 7* (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Marble, smalti, turquoise, mosaic gold.

I would not normally combine purple and turquoise, but I found it very striking with the black marble.

I’m framing all of these little studies in black metal floater frames. I like having a frame on my pieces primarily for handling. These frames are not very expensive and the are not permanently attached to the work.

Study in Moderation № 7, detail — *Study in Moderation № 7*, detail

Study in Moderation № 6

July 31, 2020 in Study in Moderation, New Work

This will be the last one with spring clips. I’m going to switch gears and do something different. The plan is to make six more, continuing to work at a more relaxed execution technique.

Study in Moderation № 6, alternate lighting — *Study in Moderation № 6*, alternate lighting

I really like these colors. The smalti is Chinese, from Peace, Love and Smalti, who I believe is not in business anymore. The exact color is unique and I have not found it in Italian smalti.

The spiral was free-hand. I did not decide on the background andamento until I had already mosaicked the pinwheel. Drawing the spiral at that point was more complicated than what I want this series to be, so I thought: What the heck! Let’s see how well I can do.

Study in Moderation № 6, detail — *Study in Moderation № 6*, detail

Study in Moderation № 5

July 23, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

Oh my! I’ve got some serious loose going on here.

study in moderation 5 textured framed web.jpg

Study in Moderation № 5 (2020) 9” x 7” | 21cm x 18cm. Marble, smalti, framing spring clips.

I was talking with my musician son about my objective for these studies, and how I really feel like I am relaxing my technique as I work, but then they still look too controlled. He shared with me some advice that his college piano professor gave him when he was trying to develop a new playing technique. The advice was to really exaggerate it to the point where it feels too exaggerated, and then it would be right.

On this one, I followed that advice. What do you think?

Study in Moderation № 5, side perspective

Study in Moderation № 4

July 15, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

After further consideration, I have concluded that the previous piece, #3, is a bit of a setback from #2 with regard to my objective of loosening up. I’m just amazed—and amused— at how challengingly this whole loosening up experiment is going.

Study in Moderation № 4 (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Granite, sodalite, smalti, framing spring clips. Indirect, exterior lighting from above. — *Study in Moderation № 4* (2020) 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Granite, sodalite, smalti, framing spring clips. Indirect, exterior lighting from above.

I did the smalti first and almost tore out that circular, sun-like area; I thought it was TOO loose, too sloppy. I had decided to do that but forced myself to leave it be. Such discipline! 😎 I chose this andamento because I wanted to be able to compare it to #1, and I believe this comparison does show some progress. What do you think? Maybe I am just seeing what I want to see.

Study in Moderation № 4, indirect exterior lighting from above — *Study in Moderation № 4,* indirect exterior lighting from above

I am encouraged with this #4. It has the degree of looseness as does #2, although the cuts still look too neat, too controlled. I am confident that I have not backtracked. On to #5.

Study in Moderation № 4, side perspective — *Study in Moderation № 4*, side perspective

Study in Moderation № 3

July 09, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

So, this one is not as loose as I had originally intended, but it is not a backtrack from #2. That is some kind of progress. I complicated things a bit with this background andamento; it is trickier than it may seem. Still, it did not take me as long as if I were working in my usual, more exacting manner. I like that.

Study in Moderation № 3, lighting from above — *Study in Moderation № 3*, lighting from above

I absolutely love this mix of red marbles and travertine. Just love it!

On to the next one, on which I am determined to push the looseness envelope a bit further!

Study in Moderation № 3, side perspective — *Study in Moderation № 3*, side perspective

Study in Moderation № 2

July 03, 2020 in New Work, Study in Moderation

This is my second attempt at relaxing my cutting and laying execution. I am a step—or a mosaic—closer to reaching my objective, but I’m not there yet. This is much looser for me in both precision of cuts and laying of the pieces. Still, I found myself lining things up too much and had redo to relax some of my background rows. And, I did not exactly end up, at the top, where I started at the bottom, did i?

Ah well, I have made a wee bit more progress. It is interesting how difficult it is change my habit of working, my sensibility of how it should be done. I’m not trying to change things permanently—there is a time and place for precision—but just to explore less precision when it is not necessary.

The spring clips make such graceful and elegant lines, so it will be fascinating to see how relaxed I can get in working around the clips. They seem to almost call for a refined approach. This one is less refined than the first one.

*Study in Moderation № 2, side perspective*

Since about 2012, I have flirted with trying to relax my execution style. I would do a couple of pieces with this objective, but somehow would drift back to something that I felt needed more precision.

For now, I’m tired of that kind of precision, the kind that I began to feel was in charge of me. I guess what I’m trying to do is change my relationship with precision so that it is not my standard way of working, but an approach that I may or may not choose to employ. First I’ve got to kick the habit.

I was talking with a friend and fellow mosaicist the other day and we were talking about exercising a lot of control in our mosaic execution. I was saying how I was determined to learn to relax my technique, that I was going to learn to control my precision by making it sloppy.

That seems to be the gist of it.