Colorado Art Studio

Sometimes I have a distinct plan when I set out to make a piece of art. In the case of the egg and chicken shrine you see to the right, I have been working on this UFO and have long since forgotten the motivation for my project. So, I was left with a shrine type paper mache form with which to craft a chef-d’oeuvre. What to do? What to do? I have no idea how this project became what it is today. Wait… maybe I do.

This past weekend, I decided that I wanted to save all the eggshells (whole) in my house. I remembered my mom doing this for some project when I was a girl. She took a sharp instrument and gently poked a hole on either end of an egg. Then, she blew through the holes to force the egg out the other end, yolk and all. You should have heard my family come running when they heard the wheezing sound as I attempted to blow the raw egg out of the egg shell! It was quite a sight, not to mention the comments. They must have thought I was crazy when they discoverd me blowing on an egg!!! (Husband and daughter, looking at each other, rolling their eyes with a hint of worry as they glance furtively at me.)

Egg Art has been around forever! Think Faberge Eggs or the art of Pysanky (Ukranian Easter Eggs) or even the humble act of dying eggs with the PAAS dye kit for Easter. So, no I’m not crazy, maybe slightly off, but that’s another story.

Anyway, short story long, I wanted to use one of my eggs in my paper mache shrine. My daughter always asks a lot of questions, and periodically, I get “What came first the chicken or the egg?” Of course, I reply, “what a good question”, because I don’t really know. So, I searched the internet and Wikipedia has a fairly well rounded answer. There are different camps of belief. Basically if you believe in evolution, then the egg came first. If you believe in creationism, then the chicken did. All in all, it is the classic Catch-22 dilemma, that Merriam Webster defines as a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule. So there you have it, a long winded answer and an illustration to an age old question.

Did I mention that these are free range, cage free, organic eggs with no added hormones? This should make this piece more expensive, don’t you think?

This is approximately 10″ x 5″ x 1.5″, paper mache, acrylic paint, fabric, bead, thread, yarn, faux jewels and 1 eggshell.

I was productive in the studio yesterday and finished one paper mache shadow box that I had begun during the summer. I’m about 3/4ths finished with the larger shrine type shadow box, and I am really having a lot of fun with these projects! This is roughly 3″ x 4″ x 1″, constructed with cardboard, newspaper, wire, collage and acrylic paints.

I used a vintage Jell-O advertisement as the background for the inside of my shadow box. When I first pulled it out, I thought, “oh no, I can’t use this it’s too precious!” Do you ever do that? I collect all these odds and ends, but then hesitate to use them at all. I have a confession to make, I horde stuff that I may never use in my lifetime. Here’s me talking to self: “Self, it’s okay to use this stuff…!”

Meanwhile, other than this post, I’m not getting a whole lot done today. I had a DRs appointment in the am and have been babysitting for my neighbor who has the most adorable 6 month old baby girl, whose name is Zoe. I was a little nervous at first since my daugther is almost 9 now. I haven’t touched a diaper, bottle etc. etc. in quite some time now. Must get back to the baby….