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Egg Art
Egg Art
Egg Art is exactly what it states, taking an egg and turning it into a piece of art. The eggs vary greatly from being painted, to wonderful trelliswork cut into the shell. Sometimes scenes are added inside and there can be allsorts of embellishments. Egg Art has existed for many centuries. The size of egg can vary from a tiny Finch egg to a large Ostrich egg. All egg used though are from reared bird and NOT from wild birds.
There has been a great amount of inspiration taken from Carl Faberge, who was a famous Russian goldsmith. He was commissioned by the Czar to make Easter presents for his family. Carl Faberge did not use real eggs only the egg shape, but has had a huge influence on Egg Artists.
If you are a beginner then the best way to get into this art form is to start simple. Use a basic chicken egg. Decorate your egg just using painting and drawing techniques. This will slowly develop your steady hand. As you get better at this you can invest in the extra tools and work up to sculpting and carving. The first step is to sketch out how you would like your finished egg design to look. When you are ready to move onto your egg you need to pierce a tiny hole at the top of your egg and another one at the bottom. Then suck out the liquid using a syringe. The egg then needs very carefully cleaning inside and out with soapy water, again use the syringe for the inside, then set it aside to thoroughly dry.
Another good way to start is by using a wax resist method. This is the method used to decorate Ukrainian Easter Eggs called Pysanka. It is a similar method to that used in batik. The design is drawn on with bees wax and then painted or dipped in a dye bath. The waxed areas will remain the original colour of the egg shell. The design can then be added to by drawing over the painted or dyed sections with the bees wax, it is then dipped again – the new areas of bees wax will remain the colour of the first dye. When the whole design is complete and the paints or dyes are dry, you then hold the egg over a lighted candle and melt the wax off – carefully wiping away any excess. To strengthen the egg you can apply several layers of varnish.
If you are going to decorate your egg with papers or by adding embellishments you need the appropriate adhesives. There are a number of different adhesives used in Egg Art. Firstly it is important that you have a good collage glue such as Mod-Podge, this can be used to attach the collage items to the exterior of the shell and it also has the benefit of strengthening the shell too. Tacky glue is a good one for positioning things such as the scenes to go inside the egg. Whichever glues you choose it is best if they dry clear. If you need to attach jewels or filigree then you would be better using epoxy based glue. The epoxy glue is also good if you were wanting to attach a hanger as it is a strong permanent adhesive, you do need to use this sparingly though as it does not always dry clear and can sometimes have a yellow appearance.
The most amazing results are now achieved by using a compressed air drill or saw. This cuts away the shell and can leave the most intricate patterns where hardly any of the shell remains.
Eggs can even be hinged so that they open up to reveal a scene inside.
Basic Tools needed
Very fine pointed sharp scissors
Various types of tweezers
Toothpicks
A selection of fine paint brushes
A good light
A magnifying glass
Materials
If you use glitter then an ultra fine glitter is recommended.
Art Foil
Printed silk and organza
Paints – Lumiere are a wonderful range of paints that work beautifully for Egg Art
Rhinestones
Cameos
Miniatures
Display stands or bases
Beads
Ribbons
Embellishments
A common way for the beginner to decorate an egg is by using Decals. Decals are easily available in craft stores and on the internet. There is an enormous number of websites that specialise in Egg Art alone.
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