One of my hobbies is
carving and decorating real eggshells. I've done two B&B
eggs and have plans for two more.
These eggs are made
from rhea eggshells. Rheas are large flightless birds from
South America.
These pieces stand
about 9 inches tall.
Inside are photos of
two of my paintings. The inner wall of the pink egg is made
to look like the rock wall of a cave.
I glued quartz
crystals to the inner wall of the white egg to look like the
inside of a geode, with white roses nestled among the
crystals.
I'll try to describe
the two eggs I have planned. ***
Start by picturing the white egg. Now, instead of 6 ovals around the
circumference, only four, with photos of four of my Vincent portraits
decoupaged in the ovals with a glassy finish.
The egg as a whole
and the short box shaped base are to be
finished to look like dark brown granite.
In the triangle below
and between the ovals I'll attach a sculpted lion's head
that I've gold leafed. Coming down from where the lions'
necks would be are four thin gold (whenever I say gold, I
mean gold colored metal, not real gold) rods that hold the
egg up in the air.
Each oval is outlined
with a thin gold chain, and the same chain hangs in three
swags (similar to the pearl swags on the white egg) from one
lion's mouth to another.
Gold base-relief roses
decorate the square base and the triangles above and between
the ovals.
The area above the
ovals will be made to resemble Vincent's window and a
cluster of different sized glass "crystals" will be the
finial on top - similar to, but larger than the pearl drops
on top of the white egg. The crystals will extend through a
hole into the egg a little, and the window will be
translucent.
There will be a light
bulb and battery inside the egg, and a button to touch on
the underside of the egg itself.
The light will shine through the window and
the crystals.
The second egg starts
out similarly with four ovals. These ovals will have
portraits of Vincent and Catherine together in them. The
rest of the egg will be covered in lace similar to the white
egg, but this lace will be antiqued ivory. The stand and
base will be similar to the white egg's.
The base will be
covered in lace, the stand will be painted ivory, and they
will both be antiqued. The antiquing will get darker and
darker the further down you go.
On top of the egg will
be a cluster of roses that look like ceramic. The roses will
be dusty rose colored. The roses and cluster will be larger
than that on the pink egg and will cascade down between the
ovals.
The egg itself will be
cut into four sections or petals that hinge under the ovals.
The rose cluster will actually be four clusters, each
attached to its own eggshell petal.
The largest rose at the very top will actually be a latch holding the
petals closed. When it is tilted up on its own hinge,
the petals will open to reveal the inside
of the egg which will be lined in dusty rose colored
satin.
I've had a necklace
made that comes as close to Catherine's necklace as I could
get it. I'd like to make a close copy of her rose (actually,
if the necklace is Catherine's, we really should call the
rose Vincent's).
When the petals open,
the rose and necklace will be in the center of the
egg.
Some time ago you
started saying to yourself, "It all sounds beautiful, but
Clare is nuts. When will she find *time* to do all this?"
That of course is the
question. Doing new paintings for the con has higher
priority and I don't know when I'll find time to do *them*!!
I've already done quite a bit of the work on Vincent's egg,
but whether it ever gets finished is another story.
So I may never get to
do more than share the ideas with others. That's why I wrote
all this, in case you were wondering.
