Egg-development

I painted in all the darks of the mannequins first, mixing cool or warm blacks from ultramarine blue, pthalo blue, cad red light and quinacridone red.

Acrylics can be very transparent, so I would have to go over sections more than once.

These photos show the development of the most elaborately decorated dress on the egg. You see how the graphite was very sloppy, so I quickly blocked in some color to set the design.

I don't like acrylic because it dries a different color than I mix, but I fell in love with the quick drying time making it quick and easy to work all around the entire egg. Oils would have been a nightmare of time and logistics for me.

Egg-acting work!

I'm sitting in the airport in Baltimore, MD, heading for one of the greatest art capitals of the world, Italy. That means that once again, I am blogging from my phone.

It also means that I can only share a couple photos at a time with each post. Here are two photos from October 25, pencil drawings on top of the two coats of clear gesso that I applied to the ostrich eggshell. I was sorry to loose the semi-gloss appearance and lovely color, but I thought I'd paint in oils and wanted the paint to have something to adhere to.

The graphite was greasy and smeared easily. I decided to go over the lines in archival brown marker. But, getting bored quickly with that, I just started painting, only not in oils. I used acrylics, knowing that I could go over those in oils later. You know, the best laid plans of mice and men.

An Egg-citing Traveling Exhibition!

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends . . . . come inside, come inside" - my world.

My work of art wrapped up for yesterday's delivery.

Enter the door to Art 360: Contemporary Egg Hatching Across Ohio, an exhibition that will be traveling to three Ohio museums in 2016! The concept is the brainchild of Mr. Charles Bluestone, a Columbus lawyer and art enthusiast, and the exhibition will be comprised of 48 ostrich eggs, each decorated by a different Ohio artist who was invited to participate.

You can read the history of the exhibition and view all the eggs that have been photographed so far. My egg won't actually be on the website until sometime in December, and honestly, I don't know how they will photograph it. It just must be seen in person to fully appreciate it. But, you will be seeing it here, first, before anyone outside my family has seen it.

In my next few blog posts, I'll give you the title of the work, show progress photos, and talk about the materials and process.

Now, I want to ask you a question? Have you ever worked on a project using unconventional materials? If so you might answer yes or no, or share a photo and/or the story about your creation in the comments.

www.debrajoycedawson.com