Friday Egg: Parasol Scallops

I can't remember the last time I decided on a yellow background, but I definitely need to do it more! I like how bright it is.

For this goose egg, I dyed the egg black first and waxed all the dark lines. I washed the egg back to white and then dyed the bright colors. I tend to wash they dye off after each dye bath on a light colored egg like this. 

Happy Friday!

Friday Egg: Spring Iris

Spring has arrived very early this year. The iris started coming up a couple of weeks ago, when normally they come up at the end of March. So in honor of the early arrival, I present this little treasure of a chicken egg in purple and green, reminiscent of a garden of irises. Do you see the rakes in the middle and the garden fencing? 

I started with a brown chicken egg and waxed all the areas that I wanted to remain that brown color. After that step, I gave the egg a very long vinegar bath to get to a lighter inner layer of eggshell. With a lighter color, the dyes can be fully bright and vibrant. I dipped the egg in yellow and waxed, then light green and waxed. I washed the dye from the egg to get a paler shade of green and waxed that layer. At some point in here, I did a layer of acid lime green and waxed. Then I dipped in a medium blue, waxed, and finished up with the final color of this gorgeous purple. 

Happy Friday.

Friday Egg: Taxi!

A little grimy, a touch oversaturated, kinetic, maybe even frenetic. Reminds me of a big city. 

I made this one at the same time I made Senescence. I was exploring overworking an eggshell, just to see what would happen. The colors on this one are vivid, but slightly muddied by overwork. The edges are not as crisp, allowing for some seepage and even overlap of colors. Some of the wax came off during etching or washing back the color which adds another point of interest. 

Happy Friday!

Friday Egg: Red Pineapple

A stylized floral pattern, reminiscent of a pineapple flower adorns this lovely little chicken egg. The back ground color is PUSA Patina, just a quick dip to make a lovely azure blue to contrast and complement the hot pink and magenta of the pineapple flower. The green ferns are along to keep it company. 

This piece found a home in December, so I hope that the person who owns is enjoying a little tropical moment of this chilly January day.

Happy Friday!

Friday Egg: Senescence

Deterioration with age. Ravaged. Worn. Plagued with problems, even some warts. Things fall apart. But the symmetry is dynamic and the colors are vivid. Age has made everything a little more interesting.

I abused this egg with etching, dyeing and re-dyeing, rinsing off and washing and starting again. The eggshell was not happy and not cooperating with what I wanted. I was frustrated with it and set it aside for a few weeks. Once I was able to not be annoyed with the egg I decided to play with the problems and see how much I could amplify and showcase the issues that are usually frustrating to make them the whole point of the design. I ended up really loving what happened in the end.

Happy Friday!

Friday Egg: Purple Clematis

A highly stylized clematis vine, climbing and twisting and reaching upward to the sky. 

I wrote out the process and divided it into steps so you could understand more clearly the process of layering that I go through to produce one of these pieces.

Step 1: I penciled in the equator, then the longitude and latitude lines and the halves of those lines, ending up with a grid. Then Ipenciled in a line where these lines connected that spirals up the egg. Once I have the basic geometry drawn in, then I can see where I am going and how to get there.

Step 2: I started waxing on a brown chicken egg, as you can see from the outlines of the vine and flowers. 

Step 3: After waxing, I etched the egg in vinegar to remove the brown outer layer and expose the lighter inner layer. 

Step 4: I then dipped the egg in UGS Light Blue and waxed the outer blue line of the leaf.

Step 5: Next I dipped the egg in PUSA Patina and waxed the second slightly more green line on the inner portion of the leaf. 

Step 6: I dipped again in PUSA Patina for a longer time than I normally would in order to get the dark green inner color of the leaves. 

Step 7: In order to ensure a bright and clear color, I washed the dye off with soap and water.

Step 8: I etched the surface again in vinegar to make the egg ready for more dyeing. 

Step 9: Now it was time for UGS Purple. I waxed the outer line of the petal.

Step 10: Then I rinsed the egg under running water to get just some of the dye off the eggshell, leaving enough so I could achieve a lighter purple color and waxed that inner line of the flower petal. 

Step 10: Finally, I washed the egg back down to the light creamy shell color and allowed the egg to rest for a few days. I like to give the egg time to dry out from all the processing it has been through. The heat of the oven can turn the moisture of all the dyeing and waxing that is in the eggshell to steam and cause seepage from the pores that shows as random white blobs. Sometimes I like that effect but sometimes I want to have a bit more control over the final design. If you look closely in the lightest part of the purple petals you can see dots of the blue-green color. Similar to what happens in the oven, the warmth of my hand as I hold and work on the egg heats the air inside the eggshell which forces the dye back out through the pores. I like that this eggshell added it's own signature to the piece.

Happy Friday!