Catherine "Kater" Cheek is a writer and artist.
Catherine Cheek
Author's posts
Apr 02
48 Birds #4: The Sparrow Looks Up
For this piece, as with the previous one, I was hoping for a faint scratchy surface texture, like a print from a scratched negative or an etching. My attempts to do this with beeswax were messy and unsatisfactory, so I decided to use the slight-resist properties of gesso to do the same thing. I had …
Mar 31
Emu-Klear Drum
I had originally intended to finish these drums in time for Jeremy’s birthday, which falls in the last week of February (I began these in January). I was too worried about cracks along the neck, which you can tell just by looking is going to be a major stress point, so I left them wrapped …
Mar 28
Purple Haze Drum
 Jeremy had asked me to try to make a drum for him, and I said I’d give it a shot. It’s not an easy project. Open bodied clays are easier for large projects, but they have a hollow sound rather than a ringing sound, which isn’t what he wanted. If I coil-built it, I …
Mar 25
48 Birds #3: The trouble with beeswax
Every time I see beeswax collages in the art magazines, it looks really fabulous. Every time I try to replicate it, the results are messy and frustrating. I think it doesn’t help that I’m lacking the correct tools. I use a heat gun and a ceramic dish (I learned not to use metal!) instead of …
Mar 22
48 Birds #2: “There were facts about ravens she didn’t want the others to know.”
This was a learning experience. Once again I started with watercolor paper, and wrote on it with a calligraphy dip pen. I wrote “There were facts about ravens she didn’t want the others to know.” Once again it became quickly apparent that plain writing on a white background is BORING. When I’d finished with the …