This is what my artistic wonder of a husband gave me for my birthday this year!

It’s a sheet of copper (about 8X10) that he turned into an amazing piece of art. First, he created the image on his computer – using a 19th century map of NYC, the title of my forthcoming novel, and a gorgeous image of a moth. (I can’t tell you the significance of the moth right now, but the portion of the map he used is the exact area where the novel is set.)

He then printed the image onto a sheet of transfer paper, applied it to the copper and set it with a hot iron. This created a resist on the copper plate so when he placed the whole thing in an acid bath, it etched the image into the surface of the copper.

Last but not least, he applied India ink to the plate, and rubbed it into all the nooks and crannies created by the acid etching process.

We’ll be framing it soon, but I couldn’t wait to show it off in all its Steampunk -y glory!