Dewey Studios Clay sculpture at Carolina Creations

"My cats are handmade of clay and the colors and patterns are produced by an ancient method of firing called sawdust or "pit" firing. Once the piece has been bisque fired in a kiln, it is buried in sawdust and the sawdust is burned. The smoke from the sawdust produces the permanent colors in the clay. Sizes vary slightly and color patterns are random.

Mary Gates Dewey attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she majored in painting then ceramics at the University of Alabama.

She moved to Athens, in the foothills of the Appalachians, to begin her ceramics work. Athens provided an inexpensive lifestyle, and her studio and house were built in the midst of the woods, one mile from the nearest road. With no electricity or running water, she began her work. She came upon the idea for the cats purely by accident in 1982, and today it is only cats that leave the studio.