About Martin
Martin Cheek is a versatile mosaic artist who initially founded the technique of incorporating glass fusions into his mosaics. In so doing, he essentially transformed the art and added unique textural interest to his work. The intricately detailed glass fusions, all made by Martin in his workshop, take his mosaics to another dimension, adding varying degrees of reflectivity and energy, something not easily obtained using traditional mosaic materials.
Martin is originally from Birmingham, England, and was educated at Exeter College of Art and Design. He made award-winning films as a student, worked on several puppet animation projects including The Wind in the Willows, Paddington Bear, Noddy in Toyland and Portland Bill, before setting up his own production company, Cheeky Films, Ltd. He also served for many years as a part-time lecturer at the Royal College of Art and was an art critic for The Daily Express.
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Martin regards his mosaic work as a logical progression from animation, both of which involve building a coherent whole, displaying character and movement, from thousands of elements. His mosaics have been featured indoors and outdoors in swimming pools, murals, tables, floors, and sculptures, including a mosaic sculpture garden for children with special needs. Martin has been making mosaics for over 30 years and he still absolutely loves it!
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"I am particularly inspired by the natural world and relish the challenge of capturing its organic grace in such a seemingly uncompromising medium", says Martin. Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to work with people of all ages and many schools, hospitals, community groups, including autistic, deaf and special needs children. With his work, Martin sets out to amuse and entertain. This devotion to creating beauty is the driving force behind all ofhis work.
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For the past twenty-seven years, Martin has run mosaic courses all over the world with the intention, as he says, "to enable others to share in this wonderful medium." Over two thousand students have participated, many of whom have continued to make mosaics either as a hobby or as a profession.
Martin has pioneered the use of hand-made glass fusions in the making of creating a mosaic. When he first started incorporating fused glass into his mosaic work more than thirty years ago, purists said that they weren’t ‘proper’ mosaics. Martin carried on regardless and all these years later, ‘Fused glass mosaics’ are now accepted into common consciousness. Martin’s sixth book ‘Fused Glass Mosaics’ helped to prove his point!
Martin has written seven best-selling books on mosaics. His latest, “Martin Cheek Mosaic Artist” has examples which show the progression of his work throughout his career. He loves to use dichromatic glass which can change color depending on the viewing angle. In addition to his hand-made glass fusions, Martin also makes his own murrini and millefiori to include in his work, which further takes his creations away from traditional mosaic into a totally new art form.