Eggshells as art
Stillwater woman’s eggshells win fans worldwide, including decor guru Martha Stewart
Stillwater artist discovers that creativity involves breaking some eggs.
This time of year, ornamental eggs abound. A symbol of fertility and life, their smooth oval shape makes for a perfect canvas for dye, pen or paint.
Yet their delicacy often means the life of a painted egg is short. One slip of the hand and the shells shatter.
Painter Elisa Sheehan sees beauty in that brokenness. To her, a cracked egg — with its uneven, jagged rim — has potential; one she discovered one morning as she waited for her daughters to come downstairs for breakfast.
“I get up very early,” said Sheehan who lives in rural Saratoga. “I’d paint in the morning from 5 to 7 before everyone gets up. I went to the kitchen and I saw some eggshells ready for the compost. They looked so different, papery, from when you first crack them; so I just started to doodle inside of the shell. I did a couple every morning and they started to pile up.”
That was about three years ago. Now, Sheehan’s cracked egg art – framed in symmetrical patterns and lines with the interiors of the vibrantly painted shells facing outwards, are selling across the nation and Ireland. And last month, Sheehan’s art was featured on Martha Stewart’s website, marthastewart.com.
Sheehan said she was thrilled by the attention from the queen of domestic arts.
“They (Martha Stewart’s people) said they loved (the eggs) and wanted to feature them,” Sheehan said. “They sent me a bunch of questions and we had a back and forth. It all happened in one day.”
One commenter on the website wrote, “What a genius idea and a reminder that everything has beauty.”
That’s the point, said Sheehan, who is inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and powdered gold, silver or platinum.
“It’s a way to elevate the status of the object,” said Sheehan, who is also featured on the website The Jealous Curator. “It highlights the cracks instead of hiding them. I took that concept to work with the eggs.”
Sheehan uses a variety of paints — ink, gouache, acrylic and watercolor to adorn the insides of her cracked shells. She often emphasizes the curves by applying gold metal leaf, which also lends a royal glow to the finish. She also captures the silhouette of leaves or plants by using
“It’s a way to elevate the status of the object. It highlights the cracks instead of hiding them.” — Elisa Sheehan on the Japanese art of kintsugi
the cyanotype technique, a process that uses sunlight to make a permanent impression on the feathery shells.
The outer shell, most of them white or brown, remain unembellished. It’s the only hint, when looking at her work, that the art is housed inside a broken egg – most of which are collected for her by friends.
Because they are so fragile, Sheehan frames them with care. She takes archival board and cuts a small divot. She then glues the bottom of the broken shells to the board. The enclosed frames, from Saratoga Springs’ shop of Kettlewell & Edwards, provide the space and protection for the tender creations.
While her work is described by Martha Stewart fans as gorgeous, Sheehan said the main goal is to remind everyone that there is beauty in imperfection.
“They are a good life lesson,” Sheehan said. “If an eggshell can make you stop and think for a minute that you are OK where you are in your life, that for me would be just wonderful. Imperfection is OK. There is beauty in brokenness. It’s like they are all amazing.”