Martin Cheek and a dung beetle

About six months ago, on a routine stop into Carolina Stained Glass, I found out that Martin Cheek, mosaic master from the UK would be teaching a weekend workshop right here in Durham!  I had seriously considered going to his workshop in England (sorry, Italy won out), and then again a couple of years ago saw he would be in Orlando, FL, but alas, not a good travel weekend for me.  So I was elated to have the opportunity so close to home (literally 4 miles) to meet him and spend a weekend on personal mosaic making rather than school residencies.  He is known for his whimsical and humourous animal characters, and technically sound work of over 30 years.  In fact, one of his 7 books was the first I ever bought and inspired me to make mosaics. 

I prepared a couple of potential designs for this "Incorporating Fusions" workshop, not knowing what fusions would be available...  I had a jellyfish, crow, abstract plant form, and a dung beetle design at the ready.  There were many beautiful and colorful fusions to choose from, but some of the black and dichroic fusions jumped into my hand and onto my cartoon.

Black stained glass with the natural, wiggly, rolled edge was perfect for the legs.  I did try some smalti for the first body section, but I wasn't pleased with it.

I selected some swirly round fusions for the core of the "dung" balls, and used Italian smalti to form the largest ball.  Martin's presentation included discussion of narrative... in other words, "what your mosaic is about".  I decided that my dung beetle lives in my studio and is always furiously at work rolling up all of my colorful shards into his ball...

The other new thing I gleaned from his presentations is the use of shadow.  I like the effect, but realize now that the shadow for the beetle legs is too wide.  I should have just used narrow pieces for the skinny leg shadows.  I would have selected a lighter grey, but this purple was the best available choice at the time.

I was able to complete the desert/studio floor, but wanted to access some vitreous glass tile I have at home for the top. I should have some time at the end of this week or next to finish it up.  I do like the option of creating and using the glass fusions, although I would prefer to use them sparingly.  Some of the participants were mainly using the fusions, which then resulted in mosaics very similar to Martin's.  Clearly that is what the workshop focus was about, and good for his business (some fusions were included, then extra cost per weight of fusions), I like the greater mix of materials (smalti, stained glass, milifiore, and will add vitreous glass), and feel that my own style would be best served with just a few of the fused pieces.

I did get my first mosaic book signed, as well as Martin's most current (with a new one due out this Fall), and it was super fun to sit and mosaic for myself all weekend.  Back to schools this week.....