Friday Egg

It's a little Matryoshka family today for the Friday egg.  I love Matryoshka nesting dolls, but nice sets are out of my price range, so I decided to make some of my own!  They don't actually next, but I am okay with that.  The large one is a goose egg and the small one is a quail egg.

I started with a dyed black egg for the outlines, then washed and etched it back down to white.  I used Pysanky Showcase Lily Rose for the lips, cheeks, and the pink rose in the bouquets they both hold.  The blue of the apron is a new blue I got from Wax Art Supply called Peacock Blue. Also from Wax Art Supply is the Harvest Orange flowers on the kerchief and the Harvest Green for the leaves in the bouquet.  I used Ukrainian Gift Shop Scarlet for the poppies and the lighter red on the apron and skirt, and UGS Dark Red for the final red of the headscarf. 

I had a lot of fun with this and am looking forward to making a few sets of these in different colorways, perhaps even a Japanese version with the dolls wearing belted kimonos.

Mama Matryoshka:

Baby Matryoshka:

And finally, one last one together with their life savings (for scale):

Happy Friday!

Good Quote

"One pearl is better than a whole necklace of potatoes."

-Etienne Decroux

Friday Egg

Six stars, four on the sides and one on top and bottom.  I started with a white egg dyed golden yellow, then washed back down to white, through light turquoise, turquoise, light purple and dark purple.  I like the combination of colors here - they are strong but not in competition with each other.  Hope you enjoy this picture heavy Friday Egg!

Friday Egg on Sunday

Oops!  I thought I had scheduled this post for Friday, but I need to learn more about scheduling because it did not post.  We just got back from a weekend in the hill country, so here is the belated but heartfelt Friday Egg!

Another rainy day garden, this time with blue poppies!  I am really enjoying this design. Blue poppies for this chicken egg, with a lovely olive acid green for the stems and a dark gray background. Poppies in the rain.

Our first tomato!

Isn't it pretty?  This is the first tomato of the season from our heirloom tomato plants that we bought from a vendor at the Hope Farmer's Market.  Tastes just like a tomato should, with that lovely sweet and savory homegrown flavor.  Heaven with sea salt.  We may have to have a tomato party because at last count, we had over one hundred green tomatoes.  I live in fear of squirrels now.  Does anyone know if the flavor is as good if you take a tomato off the plant while it is still half green?  

Friday Egg

A contemporary egg today, in pinks and grays.  This is my "hollyhocks" design. I have been enjoying making this is different colorways all week.  I started with a dyed-black egg  for the main outlines, then etched it with vinegar to white.  I outlined the center petals in white, then dyed the egg dark red.  After filling in the central circle, I rinsed the color to get the medium pinkish-red for the middle circle, and then rinsed again to get the outer lighter pink circle.  Next I worked on the stems.  I decided to do purple and teal - I have a tendency to always choose green for stems and leaves and that is just a bit boring and predictable.  I like how you can see the red outlines even on the stem - I really only notice that etching edge when I use red.  I will have to keep an eye out and see if other colors leave a trace on the wall of the etch.

I like the way it turned out - it looks like hollyhocks on a stormy day.

And here's a few photos of the other colorways:

And all of them together; a little flower garden for this lovely early summer Friday.

Friday Egg

Aqua, purple and blue quilt design.  I've been doing this pattern a lot lately, haven't I?  I think I like it because of the combinations I can get between curves and straight lines.  It's rhythmic without being boring.  

I started with a brown egg, as you can see.  Etched it down to a lighter brown with a vinegar wash, then dyed it aqua, cobalt blue, and light blue.  I etched it again in vinegar, thinking that a light background would be nice, but the darker dyes kept leaking out of the pores of the eggshell after etching.  It sometimes happens that way.  If the egg is a commission and I need a certain combination of colors, I can combat it in a few ways.  I can etch it, dry it quickly and slap wax on it really quickly to try to keep the color from leaking out. This usually only works if there are small areas to cover.  The areas on this egg were too large for that to work.  Sometimes I can let an egg dry out thoroughly, then try to etch it again in vinegar.  That usually works the best, but is much more time consuming.  Since this was just for fun, I decided that a purple background would be perfectly fine. 

Happy Friday!