Monday, December 01, 2008

Eggs! Beautiful Eggs

Recently I've noticed blog posts about the beautiful eggs that chickens have been laying in flocks all over the country. My own five month old pullets started laying a month ago and it's always a joy to find those first eggs, with their strong, colorful shells. The early eggs are especially dark, they range from small to extra large double yolk eggs as shown below. Those poor pullets!


I've been blowing out the smaller ones for egg decorating someday when I get around to it again. There are so many ways to turn eggs into art, but for some reason, wax resist egg decorating was the one that took my breath away nine years ago. I totally immersed myself in it, learning as much as I could via the Internet, books, workshops and mentoring with Luba Perchyschyn. The duck egg below is from one of her design books...As the years went by, I saw some of my brilliant dyes fade away, as this acid etched brown egg did, it's now a lilac color... but the brown layers of the colored shell are still there. So that's why I want to focus more on acid etching, it's more durable and add texture as well.


The one below is an etched and dyed brown pullet egg which hasn't faded in the least.


Sorry I don't have a photo of just an acid etched (not dyed) brown chicken egg. I've had people tell me those eggs remind them of lace - imagine that, the two mediums blend together as they are filtered through my senses!

This one is a duck egg that was dyed and then etched back to white. It was my first attempt at etching and it's very simple. I love working on duck eggs especially, they are SO smooth!


And this one is a turkey egg shell... they can be bumpy, but the bumps come off with a vinegar wipe.I also love working on goose egg shells. They are so large...this one was a failed attempt that I resurrected with permanent maker and bleach. We were doing a figure show that spring so I put nudes on eggs. LOL.


I've done a few rhea, one ostrich and several emu eggshells too. The one below was a very special emu egg, I lucked out getting one with such a smooth surface and it had an extra light layer of shell over the typical dark green color.

6 comments:

  1. Wow!! I have great admiration for people with your kind of talent. Beautiful eggs. Good going with your chickens now, too.

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  2. WOW! I had no idea THIS is what you meant when you mentioned your eggs on my blog. I am completely and utterly speechless.

    These are some of the most gorgeous things I think I've ever seen. What a wonderful talent you have! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

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  3. Thanks so much for the compliments on the eggs. I just thought some of you who appreciate the beautiful eggs your chickens are laying might enjoy using them for decorating too. If anyone has the inclination to try wax resist or any other type of egg decorating,
    here's the URL for the web site that got me inspired back in 1999, Old Jim Satterfield's Duck page, in particular this page where he talks about things you can do with eggs besides eat them:
    http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/fowl/egg.htm

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  4. Wow, the artwork on these eggs is absolutely incredible. You are blessed to have this talent.

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Getting ready for Christmas Markets!

  I'll be doing two Christmas markets this year. The first one is at Sapsucker Farms in Brook Park, MN Nov. 18-19th. And the second one ...