Catherine "Kater" Cheek is a writer and artist.
Catherine Cheek
Author's posts
Feb 18
Inlay Tiles
The inlay technique has been used to awesome effect for centuries. You create an incised design in a colored clay body, then add a slip in a contrasting color. When you scrape off the slip, the design underneath comes through in crisp detail. I have never been able to make it work. For these, I …
Feb 15
Leaf Mosaic Tiles
I saw a picture in a book of a tile mosaic that looked like a carpet made of leaves. These are difficult in the same way that quilting is difficult–they take precision and a great deal of time. To make the leaf vein pattern, I used a mulberry leaf. The shapes are about an inch …
Feb 13
Book Review: The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl
The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl by Karen Burns Karen Burns, AKA “Working Girl” says she’s had 59 jobs in her life, and therefore she’s an expert at the working world. I kept expecting to see a septegenarian on the back cover, but apparently she counts each freelance assignment as a separate “job.” Still, she …
Feb 12
Tiny Smiley Balls 2
These are the last of the tiny colored smiley balls. These will probably be the only ones I make that are glazed like this, though I’ll still use the double-fork tool for something else.
Feb 09
Mosaic Tiles 3
These are hand-rolled and cut tiles of 1 1/2 inch in diameter, stamped with commercial rubber stamps, underglazed, and glazed with a low-fire clear.