Interview with Martin Cheek - Part 1

A Personal Anecdote

Martin Cheek is a professional mosaicist and author of five mosaic art books including Making Mosaics, the first mosaic art book that I ever purchased. The lively orange fish on the cover jumped out at me from the store end cap and started my foray into mosaic art.

Even though I never attempted a single project in the book, I continued to return to it time and again. The quirky little "cheeky birds" were egging me on and eventually I got up enough courage to attempt some of my own projects. I'm thoroughly glad that orange fish caught my eye that day.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Martin a few questions about mosaic art and he was nice enough to oblige even though he was in the middle of teaching his Mosaic Master Class.

Martin Cheek Interview - Part 1


Which of your mosaic works do you favor the most and why?
 
I produce about 50 mosaics a year, one a week on average I would say. Most are nothing special but occasionally I produce what I call my ‘stepping stone’ mosaics: those that allow me to move forward and progress, either technically or artistically. The last one of any great significance was ‘Sara’s Butterfly Dance’. (Installed at King's Hospital, London)

Sara's Butterfly Dance, 100cm x 72cm © Martin Cheek

Funnily, the ‘Doggie Eye Test’ was quite a challenge, although you would never think so.

And more recently the ‘Catfish’ series was a bit of a breakthrough. (see below)

Catfish, 30cm x 28cm © Martin Cheek

All that said, my relationship with my work is in the making of them. Once finished, I rarely have any emotional tie to them.

On your website, it says that you work on about 10 mosaics at a time. Why do you work this way?

Well, even when I am busy with commissioned work I like to keep my personal work moving. Right now I have more than 20 mosaics at various stages of development and I will work on whichever one I fancy on the day, depending on my mood - I like that. 

I can have an easy day if I feel lazy, making something where I know what I am doing; or tackle something new and challenging if I am feeling up to it and ready for a fight!

Generally speaking, my ideas come in series form. I take a simple idea, say my ‘Catfish’ and work it up. One mosaic doesn’t say it all, doesn’t explain it or solve the riddle. 

For example the first one (Catfish -shown above) made me realize that the cat’s cheeks could be prawns, so I made this one as a continuation or progression:

Pink Catfish, 30cm x 30cm, © Martin Cheek

And that led to this one...

Fishface, 30cm x 30cm © Martin Cheek

...being completely made up of fish. I still prefer the first one though.

It’s also the case that I struggle with realism, so I usually have a piece of realism slowly creeping on. I’ll pick it up when I feel confident enough to tackle it.


What is the one technique that you believe every mosaic artist should try to master?
 
Patience!

Stay tuned for the remainder of the interview - coming soon!