We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alex Teselsky. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alex below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

We constructed a copper and stone bar in our log home’s basement in 2016. We wanted to hang an appropriate piece of art behind it and I thought a silhouette of the Great Lakes using the leftover copper would be perfect. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, we searched but were unable to find any find any tutorials on the internet, or any evidence that a company or an individual who had ever done anything like it. So we invented our own process. After almost a month of failed attempts, we finally came up with something that we were happy with and posted it on Facebook so our friends and family that were following our bar construction could see our unique creation. Within a day or two, we received over 50 orders for similar pieces. Within 6 months, we were so overwhelmed with orders that my wife Becky and I needed to decide if we wanted to continue with our established careers or become full time artists. We decided to jump in with both feet and within a year, we were wholesaling our art to over 40 shops and throughout the state along with our online retail outlet. Other than our children, Alex, Peter and Annie, we don’t hire any additional help so as to keep our 42 step, 10 day process a secret.

Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We have been blessed with so many opportunities provided by all the new friends that we have made involving our copper art business. Our pieces have been presented to heads of state including a Vice President, and 4 governors. Our pieces are offered in Michigan’s Department Of Natural Resources Gift shops throughout the state. Our story was told in Forbes Magazine too. We know because of the time, effort and skill it takes to make each unique piece of art, we are limited to what we can physically produce and are content with that We try not to take on more than we can handle.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having someone give you their hard earned money for something that you have created. Knowing that your creation brought them happiness and will likely stay with them for a life time.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I developed an aggressive allergy to one of the processes initially that sent me to emergency 5 times. I figured this was God’s way of seeing if I was serious about seeing this thing through. We finally figured out what was causing the reaction and made proper adjustments. I haven’t had a reaction in almost 8 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://a-state-of-copper.square.site/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aquapell

Image Credits

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