Doin' stuff with eggs!

[Gryphon]

I saw a thread about a tree decorated with eggs. I didn't want to hijack it, so I'll ask it here: Anyone else do things with blown eggs? Myself, I play with polymer clay. Some of them I completely cover, others I use the egg as an armature and dissolve it in vinegar. Here's some of my eggs. (this is the same egg, just different views)

(this was made around a chicken egg, so those flowers are tiny!)

(this is the one I'm proudest of, I formed it around an ostrich egg, broke the clay off of it, and put it back together again so I could re-use the egg.)

 

[Gryphon]

I can't be the only one playing with eggs! Post pics of your stained/painted/ what have you eggs!

 

[Adenium]

Wow!

Very pretty and very detailed.

We need a time-lapse video of their construction..... Thanks for sharing, sorry I have no contribution! Maybe when my chickens lay eggs I will suddenly express my heretofore hidden artistic genes?

 

[teach1rusl]

Gorgeous! I've never seen that done. I make the egg ornaments (like the ones on the egg tree thread), but this is novel to me. Your detail in the dragon (especially the face) is awesome!

 

[Imp]

Very impressive.

Imp- still has trouble with stick figures.

 

[canesisters]

WOW!

Those are wonderful!
There is someone on here doing very detailed painted eggs. Yall should get together and combine - a little painted, a little 3d relief...

 

[Gryphon]

Thanks everyone! Polymer clay is a lot of fun to work with, and very easy to do neat things, even for beginners. For instance, this tutorial shows a beautiful egg made by a five year old: http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/satinegg.html (it was sanded and polished by an adult of course) The thing I like about my textured eggs is no sanding, I have to say.

 

[teach1rusl]

Cool tutorial link...I'm gonna' have to give these a try! So did you just bake yours in the oven to harden them??? Have any tips to make things go more smoothly for us novices in working with the clay??

 

[Gryphon]

Yep, I just baked them in my oven with aluminum foil tented over it for a more stable temperature. (your average oven has hot/cold spots). First tip, knead the clay but make sure there's no air bubbles. Second, keep the clay thickness fairly thin and consistant. Thin clay will cure faster in the oven, and keeping it the same thickness will ensure the whole thing is done at the same time. Third, follow the baking instructions! If it says to cook at 250° for 30 minutes per ¼", then don't crank it to 400° and think it will be done in half the time. What you'll have is a toxic fume emitting piece of slag instead of a nifty artwork.

I have loads of tips if anyone wants more detail. In fact, if you live near Ames Iowa, I am going to teach a workshop at Iowa State University's Memorial Union at some point, so you can sign up for it.

 

[Kassaundra]

Love the "jade" dragon egg. I keep hoping to get time to do something creative w/ my girls eggs, but so far have not. I have collected a few silk ties to try silk dying them though.