Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 9/1/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 9/1/20

Studies in Moderation: How Did I Do?

Studies in Moderation №s 1-10 (2020) Each 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm or 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Stone, smalti, framing spring clips (1-6), mosaic gold, (7-10), turquoise (7), broken china and shell (8). — *Studies in Moderation №s 1-10* (2020) Each 7” x 9” | 18cm x 23cm or 9” x 7” | 23cm x 18cm. Stone, smalti, framing spring clips (1-6), mosaic gold, (7-10), turquoise (7), broken china and shell (8).

Yes, just last week I said that I was doing three more studies to make a total of twelve. However, there have been a couple of developments that have led me to decide that enough is enough.

Firstly, I’ve had enough. I feel like I have achieved my initial goal of relaxing my technique and executing a looser cutting and laying. I’m mostly pleased with the results from this study. I believe №s 5, 7, and 8 are the most successful. It’s amazing how hard I had to work at this!

Secondly, a commission has come my way and I am excited to switch gears and do something that is someone else’s idea for a change. After the commission, I’ve got some ideas for a few art pieces that should take me through the end of the year and I’m really excited about those too! Not sure how I might incorporate the learnings of these studies into future work, but I trust that I will.

So, how did I do? I’ll review this process, study by study, that started in June of this year. My intention was not to create works of art. Rather, my intention was to define some parameters within which I could explore something different.

№ 1 I was seriously—or so I thought—being less obsessive about my cuts and placement, although it does not at all show. My progress was so minor but it was a first step—a step that showed me that I needed to keep stepping.

The spring clips are fun to work with, but the areas that the placements create are very small and a challenge to fill.

study in moderation 1 texture framed web.jpg

№ 2 I made visible progress on this one, in both the filling of the spring clip areas and the marble background. Still, the cutting overall looks too precise for what I wanted to achieve. As I worked on this, I was fighting every instinct to be more precise—obsessively precise, to not allow some space between the pieces. I felt like it was too loose, too sloppy. My goodness! I was really getting a lot of insight as to my own frame of reference.

The background is Emperador marble and I so 💗 this marble! Just look at all that variation with a single stone!

study in moderation 2 texture framed web.jpg

№ 3 This one was a bit of a backtrack on the previous one. It is a little less loose and more controlled and is certainly not a step forward. I’m not sure why this happened but I think it has something to do with the background design bringing out my inclination for clean, straight lines.

I really do like this one though. I love the marble and travertine mix of the background and the beautiful Mexican smalti. And I love the mixed-direction linear background.

study in moderation 3 texture framed web.jpg

№ 4 I moved forward in this one regarding the spacing of the tessera, however the cutting of the stone background is more precise than I had hoped. I found myself challenged in employing this more formal and complex andamento, as in № 1. However, the smalti sun was so loose that I had to restrain myself from redoing it.

The Azul Bahia granite and blue sodalite were a joy to work with due to the sheer force of their color. Blue rocks! How fabulous Creation is!

study in moderation 4 texture framed web.jpg

№ 5 Alright, a giant leap for Jackie-kind! This one is absolutely loose by my standards. I exaggerated it as much as I could muster and this is the result. I was equally excited and horrified! The horizontal background was easy to execute loosely and not too traumatic, but those leaves nearly gave me an anxiety attack. Okay, a slight exaggeration.

I hesitated to do a tree as I thought it too cliché, but I had done a sun so why not! And I like the way the tree came together.

study in moderation 5 textured framed web.jpg

№ 6 Like № 4, the background spiral has a more relaxed spacing, but overall I think it looks too precisely cut. Again, a somewhat formal and complicated andamento was a bit of an obstruction to achieving what I was shooting for.

I did the background spiral freehand, without an initial design, and it turned out fairly well. I thought that not having a specific pattern might contribute to a looser execution. For the most part, it did not. There are a couple of rough cuts that I would not normally accept, but otherwise it looks fairly precise.

№ 7 I was beginning to feel that the spring clips in such a small format were limiting. It could have been just that I was getting bored—which I easily do—but I felt like I needed to switch gears. And I’m glad I did. This one is definitely progress!

I managed to employ aspects of a more formal, flowing andamento and still achieve a looseness and relaxation. Very happy with this one.

The materials and palette are striking.

study in moderation 7 texture framed web.jpg

№ 8 Just another version of № 8 with a slightly more relaxed spacing but less dynamic background andamento.

Although a very simple, uncomplicated design, I like this one. The mix of materials is very pretty and each compimentary of the others. I find myself surprised that I like this a little more than № 7, which I think is artistically better. Weird!

study in moderation 8 texture framed web.jpg

№ 9 I have no idea where this concept came from and it did not help to advance my goal. I should have continued along the lines of № 7 and № 8 as that would have given me more space to further explore my objective.

The background marble is one that I got years ago from Mosaic Rocks!, from dear Bill Buckingham. It is similar to Emperador but it is call St. Laurent. I find it to be more dense than Emperador and easier to control. It has a similar, if less rich, degree of variation in color.

study in moderation 9 texture framed web.jpg

№ 10 Same concept as № 9 but with a more challenging background andamento. I wanted to see how much of that movement I could express in such limited space.

The concept of large pieces of gold intersected with contrasting wisps of color is visually appealing to me and I may explore it in a larger format at some point.

This one shows no progress beyond № 7 and № 8, which is why I feel I have exhausted the limits of the study at this time.

study in moderation 10 texture framed web.jpg

In summary, I’m very happy that I invested the last three months on this study. I feel it was very worthwhile. And it was fun and liberating to not be trying to make art. I hope I can carry forth more fun and freedom in my future work.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 9/1/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 9/1/20

Study in Moderation № 10

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/28/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/28/20

Study in Moderation № 9

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

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/26/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/26/20

Sold and Sold!

On their way to their new homes! Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my work and for the support of the medium of mosaic!

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

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.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/23/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/23/20

Study in Moderation № 8

I think I’m getting the hang of it!

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/16/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/16/20

Study in Moderation № 7

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

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/12/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 8/12/20

Study in Moderation № 7, in progress

I switched gears from the spring clip-driven little studies. They were fun but I began to find them limiting. I’m sure I could have come up with some more arrangements, but I needed to do something different. These substrates are pretty small and I felt like I did not have too many options when everything was driven by the spring clips.

So, I’m trying something more free-form. This one is about two-thirds finished. I did not draw anything out and I am finding this to be a totally different experience than the spring clip pieces. Still working at a more relaxed, less-controlled execution.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/31/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/31/20

Study in Moderation № 6

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/23/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/23/20

Study in Moderation № 5

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

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/15/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/15/20

Study in Moderation № 4

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.

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/9/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/9/20

Study in Moderation № 3

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

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/6/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/6/20

Study in Moderation № 3, in progress

Gorgeous Mexica smalti! Can you believe that this range of shade and color is all from one color? I think it’s # 213-Coral and Cream. Let’s see if I can do it justice with the stone background.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/3/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 7/3/20

Study in Moderation № 2

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.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/30/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/30/20

Study in Moderation № 2, in progress

This is my second attempt to achieve the ever elusive something different, something looser.

I sheared the smalti to give it a less polished surface quality. Shearing also makes precision cuts trickier so that is hopefully to my advantage.

Now I will work out my background andamento, striving for something more casual than is my habit.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/29/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/29/20

Echos In Time № 2, in progress

This is my second attempt at that elusive something different. This morning, I added two more spring clips, thatt I thought would make it more balanced, so I have the two more areas to fill. I’ve not glued the pieces yet.

The shape made me think of a tree or a plant of some sort, but it also kind of looks like a person-like being dancing, don’t you thing? Horizontally, it looks a little like a strange, Seuss-like bird. But I went with the tree inspiration and chose the green. The background will be primarily one of my favorite marbles: emperador brown.

I’ll decide the orientation when I work out the background andamento, but it’s feeling portrait.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/27/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/27/20

Study in Moderation № 1

This is the first in this experimental series so I don’t want to fuss about it too much. As I posted earlier, I fell short of my objective, for the most part. I achieved a somewhat more relaxed cutting approach, which is my primary objective, so I’m calling it a good start.

Study in Moderation № 1, lighting from top — *Study in Moderation № 1,* lighting from top

I’m making this a subset of my Impromptu Series because the design process fits the series. The work follows from an impromptu playing with the spring clips. The resulting arrangement then drives all other design choices.

Study in Moderation № 1, side perspective — *Study in Moderation № 1*, side perspective

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/25/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/25/20

Study in Moderation № 1, in progress

Well, this one is a mixed bag. This is not what I intended or desired. This is not loose. Not at all. Partly, this andamento inhibits me from working loosley. Clearly, I chose the wrong andamento. And partly, my nature inhibits me from working loosely. Both of these things I believe I can and will do something about.

It may not look like it, but I was more relaxed about my cuts. This tells me that when I fuss more about my cuts, it really may not buy me very much. Still, I am surprised at how acceptable the cuts are with me having a more relaxed attitude about it. No grinder, no fussing.

Still, I am disappointed with this. I wanted to do something different than what I normally would do, and this is not different. But I shall persist. I will finish this one and try again.

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/21/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/21/20

Study in Moderation № 1, in progress

Last week, I was working on another concept for a series of small pieces. I had planned on calling the series Echoes, which was appropriate for the concept. Well, the concept just did not work. Weird. I was very excited about it, but as I started on the design, it just was not working for me.

I immediately shifted to this idea of working with framing spring clips for a series of small pieces. The original concept, though unsuccessful, led to this concept. I’ve been trying to come up with a title but could not, so I am sticking with Echoes for now. Update 7-22-2020: This series is titled Study in Moderation.

After finishing the spring clip and smalti motif (at left), I next needed to decide my andamento. What I did was to take the image at left and import it into my Procreate app.

Then using the app, I cleaned up the background and created a layer to play with a couple of ideas. I settled on a rather classic approach, the result of which you see above. It is just a sketch, a guide. I’m going for something like it but without being too precise.

When I made the piece at right, I had intended to use a looser technique but realized, about 1/4 way through, that I had habitually slipped into a very controlled and precise execution.

I was disappointed but finished it in the controlled and precise manner in which I started it rather than start over.

Although I am happy with this little mosaic, I think it could have been much more interesting had I used a looser and less controlled execution. Or maybe just different. I want to explore different.

A Little Love Story 6.5” x 8.5” | 17cm x 22cm. Marble, travertine, smalti, coral, turquoise mosaic gold. — *A Little Love Story* 6.5” x 8.5” | 17cm x 22cm. Marble, travertine, smalti, coral, turquoise mosaic gold.

Although I’ve started with the smalti inside the spring clips being fairly precise, I felt it necessary because the spaces are very small and difficult to work within. I will see if I can be happy with loosening that up in the next piece. But the stone background is where I will really practice less control. Let’s see if I can do it!

Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/20/20 Jacqueline Iskander Mosaics 6/20/20

New WIP

Just a little glimpse of the beginning of a new series I’m working on, which is currently untitled. These will be small 6” x 8” pieces featuring framing spring clips and stone. This one has started with smalti inside the clips, but the background will be primarily stone.

I think this will be fun!