Egg-Citing Event Comes to Conner Museum Just in Time For Easter Holiday
KINGSVILLE - March 24, 2010
Contact:
Julie Navejar
julie.navejar@tamuk.edu or
361.593.2590
Artwork on a variety of eggs, including ostrich and emu
It will look like the John E. Conner Museum at Texas A&M-Kingsville was visited early by the Easter Bunny, as a display of decorated eggs begins Tuesday, March 30.
However, these are not simple eggs decorated with food coloring, but a variety of eggs with a wide array of embellishments. San Antonio artist Janie Arteaga’s work The Art of Eggery will be on display at the museum through Friday, April 30.
Eggery is the artistic decoration of natural eggs and Arteaga has worked with ostrich, emu, rhea, pheasant, goose and even hummingbird eggs. In her hands, an ostrich egg may become a jewelry box, while a quail egg is her preferred choice for crafting a necklace.
An egger starts with an actual egg minus its contents and then decorates it with a variety of artistic techniques including painting, beadwork, decoupage and carving. Arteaga is a hairdresser by vocation, but combines her artistic and handicraft skills with her love of eggs to create beautiful pieces of art.
Eggery is not for the casual enthusiast as it requires a large amount of time and patience. An ostrich egg takes Arteaga about a month to complete. She uses a Dremel tool when cutting the larger eggs and a specially-designed eggery drill for the smaller ones, being very careful with her fragile canvas.
Arteaga began working with eggs about 14 years ago and has since created hundreds of keenly decorated pieces. All of her eggs come from professional hatcheries that cater to eggers.
The Art of Eggery can be seen at the Conner Museum from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, except university holidays. Admission is free. For more information, call 361-593-2810.
This page was last updated on: March 25, 2010