Hand-tooled copper cat design

A year ago or so I was looking through some old things and found one of my art projects.  It was a copper picture of a flower that I made in "Per. 7", so that must have been Junior High.  I only vaguely remember it and have no idea how I got the lovely black color for the background:

I really like it, and since it fits the flower theme of my Creative Pursuits brand, it is on display in my studio.

I never thought about doing anything other than this to a copper sheet (jewelry designing has kept me very busy!), but look what my mother and stepfather gave me for my birthday this past weekend:

Yes, that's right - it's copper!  The piece is an original Sandi Obertin hand-tooled copper design that has been hand-colored using a special enameling technique that Sandi developed.  I called her today to talk about the piece and to tell her I was going to blog about it, and she told me that her metalwork pieces also include clocks and other nature theme wall art.

This piece is perfect for our living room that we painted last year in two different peaches.  It also has a touch of purple (always a big hit for me), and the cat looks a bit like our Pixel:

I had a lovely chat with Sandi and found out that her whole family are artists:  her husband Lynn, her daughters Lisa and Jennifer, and her 11.5 year old grandson!  They sell as a family at farmers markets and art/craft shows.

If you're in the Kenosha area, check the Obertins out at the Kenosha Harbor Market on Saturday, August 30, 2014 and on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 9 am to 2 pm.  They'll also be at the UW Parkside Art and Craft Show on November 22, 2014.  Online you can check out some of their items at the Creative Arts by Obertin Etsy shop.

Thanks, Sandi, for letting me blog about your beautiful piece, and thanks to Mom and John for buying it for me so I could blog about it (and to hang in the living room, of course)!  :)