#eggshells

Sometimes you find paintings in the most unexpected places.

One day last winter,  I came downstairs to eat breakfast after Bonnie was finished (on December 12, 2014 to be exact; isn’t digital photography wonderful?), and this egg shell greeted me in the In-sink-erator, not an abnormal occurrence. At that moment, the sun came out, lit up the egg shells, highlighting the white edge against the earthy shell tone, and I grabbed my camera. The rest is history.

I think of this as a precursor to my egg series. Egg In-Sink depicts the egg-cracking stage, before anything else in these paintings can happen. You can read the Story Behind the Eggs here.

Eggs In-Sink is rather monochromatic in tone. However, although I only used 3 colors (Payne’s grey, titanium white, and burnt siena), I still managed to use 14 brushes. The point here is that a deceptively simple subject can require more subtle and careful color mixing, not to mention paint application. And any painting with concentric circles like this one requires a lot of concentration.

For about 2 seconds I thought about naming this painting Eggs N’Sync, but I quickly realized I must be watching too much Justin Timberlake on TV.  Besides, cutesy is not my style.

If you have any egg ideas or interesting egg photos, I would love to hear from you. Until then, it’s time to move on to the Day 9.