Page 60 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2018

DESIGN
FINDS
ARTIST PROFILE
COPPER TURTLES ACCENTED WITH STONES AND ART GLASS
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OCEAN SPRINGS RETAILERS
Fanciful Flasks
Valerie Winn
THE PINK ROOSTER
622 Washington Ave. Ocean Springs 228.875.1218
STORY BY LYNN LOFTON
PHOTO COURTESY OF COPPER TURTLES
Adding new artists and features is part
of the strength and appeal of the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival. Such is
the case with Janet Weilbrenner and Stacy Benesh of copper turtles who are making their first appearance at the long-running event this year. In their West Plains, Missouri, studio the duo creates copper critters that have a mosaic of natural stones or art glass as beautiful accents with the copper.
“We have been coming to a show in Fairhope, Alabama, and love the Coast,” Weilbrenner said. “We think the Ocean Springs festival will be a great market for our critters and are excited about coming. We’re looking forward to our first time there.”
Both artists entered this creative endeavor after working in other fields — Weilbrenner in restaurant management and Benesh as a veterinary technician in a private practice. Weilbrenner has been an artist for 32 years, first working with her mother, a retired art teacher. After she and Benesh joined forces, their art company was born. For several years they
made jewelry; much of it turtle and frog pins out of clay and finished with copper and stones. One day Weilbrenner made
a turtle that was too big, and Benesh said,”that’s just going to sit there” when they took it to an art show. However, it didn’t just sit there and so the turtle adventure was born.
The ladies live in the Ozark Mountains where they take care of a large menagerie of animals when they’re not creating turtles and attending arts and crafts festivals. “We used to do 40 shows a year but we’re trying to cut back,” Weilbrenner said.
60 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • October 2018
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AND
J. Wilson Pottery
Sylvarena, MS
HILLYER HOUSE
920 Washington Ave. Ocean Springs 228.875.8065