About the artist

Delaware Blue Hens click here

Wall hangings

Free standing sculptures

In Virginia's beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, Dawn Mickel and her husband, John Gardini, of Black Cat Enterprises create copper animal sculptures that truly capture nature's wild spirit. These free-standing handmade sculptures are designed to exhibit the motion and expressions unique to each creature, whether it is a domestic cat or mother elephant.

Each Black Cat design is made from heavy gauge sheet copper. After cutting, sanding, assembly and soldering, the piece is soaked in acid overnight. It is then "colored" with a blowtorch. The color is fixed with polyurethane, so the sculptures require little or no maintenance.

Black Cat sculptures depict dozens of animals from all over the world, including: baboons, bears, buffalos, camels, cheetahs, eagles, elephants, flamingoes, foxes, frogs, goldfish, horses, giraffes, iguanas, llamas, lions, rabbits, mice, moose, penguins, rhinos, squirrels, trout, wolves, and zebras. Fantasy creatures such as unicorns and Pegasus are also available, as are angel figures.

There is also an amazing variety of dog breeds including: Airedale, Basset hound, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bichon Frise, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Corgi, Great Dane, Greyhound, Jack Russell, Labrador, Schnauzer, Poodle, Pug, Rottweiller, Sheltie, English Springer Spaniel, Vizsla ... in fact, we now have over 100 breeds available. Call the Gallery for details.

And for cat lovers, domestic cats are shown in all their fascinating activities, such as running, napping, stretching, washing, hissing, investigating and leaping. Tabbies, Siamese and Persians and domestic shorthairs are available.

A portion of the profits from the sale of all Black Cat copper sculptures will be given to the Delaware Humane Association in support of their animal rescue and adoption efforts.