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I strove to make this frame elaborate and sophisticated with regards to its mosaic artistry, but at the same time, I wanted it to enhance, rather than overpower the prominence of the ketubah.

I created a frame consisting of three sections, basically, three individual frames that become one larger frame. The lower one, i.e., the one closest to the ketubah, is made with a steady brick-like design to strengthen the richness of the ketubah art and serve as a smooth transition to the second, higher frame work. The brick-style symbolizes the strength of the union.

For the main and wider frame, the section between the brick-style and the copper exterior frame, I chose an unglazed ceramic tile as the predominant tesserae (individual tiles used to create mosaics) to create a discreet composition and to offer an indirect way of emphasizing the main design piece of this mosaic frame which, in essence, is the emergence of two tree branches, coming from the right and left sides of the frame.

All through the mosaic weave of unglazed ceramic tesserae, I added touches of Van-Gogh glass, Venetian glass, and Italian Sicis tiles to introduce a gentle vivacity to the more subdued mosaic background.

The two branches emerging from the bottom and through the sides of the frame, match the ketubah design but also, and most importantly, they symbolize Lisa’s and Steve’s path, coming from each side of the frame. One of the branches represents Lisa walking with her four kids. The other branch represents Steve’s path, with his four kids. Each of Lisa and Steve’s respective kids is represented by a green leaf. The different green tonalities of the ceramic leaves indicate the kids’ gender; the size represents their respective ages, the largest leaves being the older kids, the smallest, the younger ones. Two beautiful families of five, embrace at the right top of the frame to become a loving and beautiful family of ten. This encounter is created in its entirety by Van Gogh glass, a most special type of tile that denotes the beauty of the togetherness. The parallelism of this beautiful family story, with the art of mosaic itself, is evident in that the individual pieces (tesserae) become more beautiful when they join to become one. The mosaic pieces that hold this frame together and then bind it together symbolize the love they all share.