Kitty the Tinsmith

Among my treasured gifts is a pair of tin cookie cutters I received long ago that were handmade by tinsmith Catherine “Kitty” Latané from tracings of my children’s hands.

Nearly twenty years later I meet Kitty at T&C Latané, the shop she shares with her husband, Tom, also a metal artist, in the small artist community of Pepin, Wisconsin. Walking into Kitty and Tom’s shop, you know you’ve arrived at a special place. There’s a sense of invitation and purpose to the shop.

Real things are made here. Things that are meant to be used, treasured, and kept. It’s a place where you wish you could be the shop dog, just to be in the space.

An artist at heart and in practice, Kitty’s talents and interests span a lifetime. Kitty seamlessly mixes her thoughtful perspectives on life with the historical craft of tinsmithing and the technical aspects of her creative process. She projects an ease and curiosity about life.

Kitty transitioned from fabric art to tinsmithing after marrying Tom and discovering the impractically of working with fabric while surrounded by metal work. The art of tinsmithing soon became her passion. For the past 40 years, she has been designing and creating tin work. Though cookie cutters are her specialty—she says they inspire joy—she has expanded her work to include lanterns, cups, ornaments, and other tin wear.

One of Kitty’s early inspirations came from Laura Ingalls Wilder, who was born in Pepin in 1867.  Wilder’s books became treasures for many, including Kitty, who was drawn to the traditional handcrafts that featured so prominently in Laura’s stories of daily life.  Every year, a steady stream of Little House on the Prairie readers come to Pepin to see where Laura spent her early days. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum has featured the entire series of unique, limited-edition cookie cutters Kitty has created to commemorate Laura Ingalls Wilder Days for each of the past 26 years.

To make the cookie cutters, Kitty starts with a drawing, just as she did with the hand tracings for the cookie cutters she made for me. Using sheers, she hand-cuts strips of tin. Choosing a “point of beginning,” she uses her favorite pliers to bend and fold the tin strip to match the pattern. She says she enjoys this quiet, methodical work. When the shape is completed, she solders the ends and adds a tin backing for stability. Into the backing she stamps a message; in my cookie cutters, she added the names and ages of my children.

Kitty often responds to requests for repairs of treasured tin antiques or for copies of cookie cutters for family members—often for grandchildren who want their own to keep as a treasured reminder of time in the kitchen with grandparents. She’s even made tin copies of broken plastic cookie cutters from the 1950s. To Kitty, it is a joy to create something of quality, something that matters, something to keep. “I don’t know how much it counts when things are in a closet because you don’t quite know what to do with them.”

What does Kitty keep? “I keep the things that have a usefulness, the things that bring me joy . . . the cookie cutters that I’ve made that represent special times in my life . . . all the handmade gifts that Tom has given me.”

And what does Kitty hope people appreciate about her work?

“We have devoted our lives to handwork, to creating things that disappeared in a culture that values mass production and intellectual pursuits. Handwork has gone unappreciated, and as a result, there is a shortage of people who have the hand skills to create lasting objects. Yet, hand skills are just as intellectual, just not as esteemed in this culture.”

“Everything we make is a small production, and everything we make has the care of our hands in it. I’d like to think that what someone receives or purchases from us is valued. In my perfect world, people would surround themselves with nice things that were a pleasure to hold and a pleasure to use. I’d like to think that everything I make is something that will be loved and kept.”

Stop in and visit Kitty and Tom at T&C Latane in Pepin, located along the beautiful Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin. You’ll find their shop filled with one-of-a-kind tin and metal work. Kitty’s custom-made handprint cookie cutters make a special gift for many occasions, and especially for Mother’s Day. Maybe you know of some little hands to trace? If so, Kitty will create a keepsake to be treasured.

[Photography by Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]