An unusual egg

In honor of Easter, here is an egg of a different kind! This is another older piece of mine that I happen to particularly enjoy. It actually hangs in my shared office at work and is a great conversation starter. People either love it or hate it, but they are always intrigued. I titled it In the Shell, as it was created for a "special theme" competition. The theme, of course, was shells.

In the Shell, 2004

I have always loved birds and remember becoming fascinated with their eggs when I saw a video of egg candling. What do chicks see in their shells? When do they become aware of their environment? I found it fascinating. This website has a lot of pictures of developing chicken embryos if you'd like to look. It is a little disturbing when you think about the fates of the chickens, but it is interesting in a scientific way. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1459/embryonic-development-day-by-day/

This piece is mixed media. It consists of Paper Clay and wire mesh (the egg shell itself) Super Sculpey (the chicken and the yolk sack) real goose down, glitter, acrylic paint, and  EnviroTex Lite resin. It is a pretty deep relief sculpture, but has the illusion of greater depth because of the shell's undercut. Here is a profile to show that it does stand out a little from the frame: 

Here are some more detail pics. You can see where I glued on the goose down- I was hoping that it would look more feathery, but when I poured on the resin the feathers became almost transparent. 

The EnviroTex created a nice, liquid look

A close up showing the overhang

I also sprinkled a little glitter into the resin before it cured. I was trying to convey a sense of magic and wonder and the beginning of life, not just 'eww, a chicken embryo.'

It's hard to believe that this piece was made 11 years ago. It is one of the only pieces that I think I want to hold onto :) Happy Easter everyone!