There is a variety of colors and sizes of eggs that can add another layer of interest to some of the artistry that can be created with them.
EGG ARTISTRY: WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE EGGS (BESIDES EAT THEM)
Now that you’ve begun raising chickens in your backyard, you’ll soon have more eggs than you know what to do with. Eggs aren’t just for eating. Here are some crafty, fun ways to use your eggs. You may be familiar with a decorative piece that sits on an egg stand or strung as a hanging ornament. But there is a world of variation within this art.
Begin your egg art with almost any kind of egg—duck, goose, turkey, quail, emu, or even ostrich, to name a few—but we focus on the chicken egg because it’s the simplest and you likely have an abundance. (If you’re interested in purchasing other types of eggs, try www.theeggeryplace.com or www.metzerfarms.com.)
Blowing Out an Eggshell
To use an eggshell as your canvas, often you need to blow out the shell’s contents first. Poking a hole at either end to do this is a simple method, but there are better ways, especially because this two-hole method requires your lips to make direct contact with the eggshell. (If you opt for this method, be sure the egg is clean and avoid consuming its contents due to the risk of food-borne illness such as Salmonella.)
Here’s another, more preferable way to blow out a chicken egg: the one-hole syringe method.
Purchase a syringe with an 18- or 20-gauge 11/2-inch (4 cm) needle.
Make three holes very close together in a triangle shape, within the same 1/8 of an inch (1/3 of a cm).
Create one larger hole by connecting the three you made initially.
Stick the needle into the egg as far as it will go and wiggle it around until you poke a hole in the yolk. Attach your needle to a 10 cc syringe. (This is standard syringe language and how you would ask for it.)
Fill the syringe with air and invert the egg so the hole faces down. Place the needle attached to the syringe into the egg and slowly push up on the plunger. Air enters the egg and the egg’s contents exit through the hole.
Continue injecting air until all of the contents have been removed. The contents of the egg are still edible, so feel free to place the yolk and egg white into a bowl, cover it, and refrigerate it.
Marans produce richly colored brown eggs.
Rinsing the Shell
Pour warm water into a bowl and add a dash of liquid hand soap or dish detergent.
Fill your syringe with the soapy water and inject it into the empty shell. Repeat until the eggshell fills with soapy water.
Cover the hole with a finger and shake the egg to coat all inside surfaces with the soapy solution.
Wait two minutes and then blow out the soapy water using the same method you used to blow out the yolk and egg white.
Rinse out the soapy suds using warm or cold water. Repeat until no more soap or bubbles come out of the egg.
Let the egg drip dry, hole-side down, on a paper towel for twenty-four hours.
Once dry, your eggs are ready for decorating.
Fabergé Eggs
Peter Carl Fabergé, one of the most famous egg artists, was a jeweler for the House of Fabergé. Between 1885 and 1917, he created bejeweled eggs for Russian tsars and wealthy Moscow families. The eggs ranged in size from necklaces to large, tabletop decorations. Almost all were adorned with precious metals and jewels in intricate arrangements. At one time, sixty-five of these eggs existed, but today, only fifty-seven are known to have survived.
The popularity of Fabergé eggs spurred an interest in a new field: handcrafted, decorated or jeweled eggs. Today, many businesses sell specialty hinges, filigree work, and clasps for delicate egg crafting. If this sparks your curiosity, check out www.alcrafteggartistry.com, www.eggersdelight.com, or www.eggsbybyrd.com.
Fabergé eggs
Japanese Washi Eggs
Japanese washi eggs are blown out and wrapped in washi paper, which is made of rice. The designs typically mimic scenes and patterns found on the fabrics used to create kimonos. The size of the egg doesn’t matter as long as the paper covers the egg.
Washi eggs
Pysanky Eggs
Pysanky is a traditional Ukrainian method of egg decorating. Using a wax-resist method and strong dyes, eggs are decorated in complex geometrical shapes and patterns. Each symbol and color has a different meaning. A deer or stag, for example, symbolizes strength. A bushel of wheat symbolizes a good harvest. There are also two styles of pysanky: traditional and trypillian. The former uses geometric shapes and bright colors and lines; the latter uses more swirls and earth tones.
Pysanky eggs are decorated as follows:
Beeswax is melted and funneled down to a point using a device called a kitska. The point is then used to draw onto an egg. The egg is then dipped into a dye, removed, and dried. Any area the artist wishes to keep a specific color gets covered with wax before the next round of dye. The final dye is usually the darkest color, often black.
To remove the beeswax from the egg, place the egg on a wooden board containing three nails in triangular position. Put the board and egg into an oven set to 200°F (93°C). This will cause the wax to melt, allowing you to gently wipe it off with a paper towel. Once the egg dries, the wax melts off to reveal meticulous patterns and symbols.
You can purchase a dye kit for starting your own pysanky egg art at stores such as the Ukrainian Gift Shop at www.ukrainiangiftshop.com.
Pysanky eggs
Romanian Eggs
This is the use of wax and colored wax dyes to place lines and dots onto an egg, giving the eggshell surface a raised appearance that is particularly beautiful. There are hundreds of color combinations available based on the dye and the type of wax it’s mixed with.
Using a kitska to make a pysanky egg
Czechoslovakian Drop-Pull Eggs
This decorative technique is similar to pysanky. It also uses melted wax, but instead of beeswax alone, the mixture is 50 percent beeswax and 50 percent paraffin wax with a little wax dye for color. (You can find wax dyes and paraffin wax in the candle-making section of your nearest craft store. Purchase beeswax from a local beekeeper.)
Drop-pull eggs are decorated as follows:
The wax is melted and stirred until smooth. A pattern is drawn onto an egg using pencil. With the design in place, the round end of a sewing pin stuck into the eraser end of a pencil gets dipped into the molten, dyed wax to allow it to heat up. Very quickly, it’s pulled out and placed onto the egg, leaving a dot of colored wax. Then comes the pull, by making a short stroke, starting at the dot. Start with a painted egg for added interest. After the drop-pull pattern is applied, place the egg in another, darker dye. After dyeing and drying the egg, you remove the wax as described in the Pysanky Eggs section shown here.
Decoupage
Decoupage entails gluing cutout images onto an empty blown-out eggshell and lacquering them into place. Quick and easy, this craft is good for beginners. You can paint the egg before applying the pictures.
Decoupaged egg
Carved Eggs
Delicate and beautiful, carving eggs takes patience, practice, and many a broken shell to master. Intricate designs include not only holes but removal of layers revealing hidden colors and surprises. An emu’s egg, for example, is a dark blue-green color that changes to teal the lower you carve into the eggshell. Beneath the teal is a white eggshell. If you’re interested in taking up this form of egg artistry, visit www.theeggshellsculptor.com to learn more from an egg sculptor.
Scratched eggs
Scratched Eggs
Eggs decorated with the scratch method begin with an egg that is not blown out. Start with a painted or dyed egg. (The coloring on dyed eggs doesn’t tend to flake off as can sometimes happen with a painted egg surface.) Using a craft knife or a scalpel, scrape away the design you want to create. Once complete, blow out the contents of the egg and spray the outside with a clear acrylic for shine.
Scratched eggs