Friday Egg: Pink Spider Chrysanthemum

Friday Egg today is a Pink Spider Chrysanthemum design. The colors on this are non-traditional, though the scarf design is based on the traditional sakvy (saddlebags) design. If you are paying attention, you might notice that it is the same basic design as my "Like Holding Hands" egg I showed a few weeks ago - this is a fun design for me! One of my favorite parts of this design is the elongated diamond shapes on the scarf. It just adds a more contemporary feel to the normally traditional design. I love the Barbie pink (Lily Rose from Pysanky Showcase) and Golden Wheat against the brown background. And for added interest, the texture of the goose egg really shows through on the background layer. All in all a fun egg to make and a fun egg to look at!

Happy Friday!

West Austin Studio Tour!

Just a quick notification: the West Austin Studio Tour is this weekend and next, April 27th and 28th and May 4th and 5th and I have a few pieces at a gallery that is on the tour. Swing by and take a look! I'm at Dragonfly Gallery at 4007 Marathon Blvd, just a parallel block west of Lamar across from the Central Market. Look for Stop #58 in the catalog or at the website:

http://west.bigmedium.org/index.html

Friday Egg: Etched Turtle Pair

Today's Friday Egg is a design you have seen before, but this time I started with a brown chicken egg. There are two turtles, one on each side, playfully chasing each other around the egg. I like the soothing greens and blues paired with the natural brown of the chicken egg.

First I applied wax to cover the brown of the eggshell, Then I etched the eggshell in a vinegar bath to reveal the white eggshell just underneath the brown layer and added wax to those areas where I wanted it to stay white. Then I did the same process through Key Lime and Turquoise and finally dyed the egg Black.

A very old egg

Wow! I'm so excited to see this! It's an etched and decorated ostrich egg that the British Museum has that is described as follows:

Ostrich egg vessel carved in low relief with warriors in procession, somewhat like a hoplite phalanx; they are carrying round shields, the rims of which are incised with parallel lines, and long spears with large, leaf-shaped tips; on their heads are substantial helmets with pointed tips; the surrounding field is painted in black, apart from hatched triangles rising from the bottom, between their outstretched legs; the details of the warriors may originally have been painted; the frieze is framed above and below by stylised lotus flowers; the top of the egg is pierced with a large hole, presumably to empty the contents, around which are several smaller piercings for suspension.

I wonder if this was some sort of lamp because of the suspension piercings on it. Or perhaps simply a hanging piece of artwork? It is a time-travelling tingling sort of feeling to know exactly how this artist would have handled this egg and how it would have felt in his/her hand. And now when someone asks me how long an egg will last I can say that it will last at least 2,500 years!

Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to see this egg.

Friday Egg: Netted Poppies

A lovely little goose egg for the Friday Egg today. Stacked poppies atop a white net: are they caught in a trap or ar they wearing white fishnets? I guess it depends on your mood.  Either way, they are a lovely mix of scarlet and pink with a combination of asparagus and granny smith for the leaves.  I started with an egg dyed goldenrod, waxed the first layer and then washed it back down to white. I worked on the leaves first, then chose the colors of the flowers and decided at the end that it needed a little extra something at the bottom, so washed the egg back down to white and added the netting, with a final layer of black dye. 

Happy Friday!

Dragonfly Gallery

Just yesterday I dropped off a selection of eggs for the Dragonfly Gallery in Central Austin.  It's a darling little space, intimate and fun. The front half of the gallery features paintings, jewelry, ceramic pieces and everything else you can think of, while in the back she offers classes in mixed media collage. I am definitely interested in taking one of the classes. Every time I go in, she's got a group of people back there working away with paint, texture, color and they are all having a grand time.

The following egg, Red-Framed Cosmos with Ferns, is just one of the eggs I dropped off. Please do drop by to look at the eggs and the rest of the gallery. You will love it!

Friday Egg: Flying Plates and Streamers

Today's egg reminds me of the Chinese circus, objects flying through the air, streamers and ribbons whipping around, all of it a hectic riot of color.  

I started with an egg dyed red for the first wax layer, then washed back down to white and added the white dots and stripe on the ribbon. I dyed it with Patina dye, waxed and then washed back down to white with a quick scrub with Ivory soap and then a short vinegar bath with a final scrub with a soft toothbrush.

Happy Friday! I may go attempt to stand on my head, in honor of this egg.