Transform your eggshells into a work of art: two more from the 70s

If 70s craft culture was a religion (and some may say it was), then the McCall’s Book of Handcrafts would be its sacred text. Between its cheerful yellow covers lurk nearly every classic craft project of the era – tie dye, batik, mushroom shaped candles, owl macramé (owls were a very popular subject), bottle art, paper flowers, and, of course, eggshell mosaics. The directions are simple and direct; there was, after all, a lot to fit into 219 pages. Unfortunately, the fruit bowl example is one of the least interesting designs in the book.


EGGSHELL MOSAICS

EQUIPMENT: Glass jars, various sizes. Tweezers. Metal spoon. Tracing paper. Carbon paper. Scissors. Pencil. Small pointed paintbrush.

MATERIALS: Eggshells. Liquid fabric dyes or food coloring (colors given under individual directions). Elmer's Glue-All. Clear acrylic enamel spray. For additional materials, see individual directions.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: Save eggshells from cooking. Rinse them in water and remove thin membrane that may have adhered to interior. (Membrane pulls off easily.) Shells from four large eggs cover area about 6" x 11".

To Prepare Surfaces: Paint or paper item (see individual directions); dry thoroughly. Copy or enlarge designs, below, on tracing paper; transfer to surface by going over lines of design with carbon underneath.

To Dye Eggshells: Use a different jar for each color, pint or quart size depending on quantity of shells to be dyed. Mix dye with hot water according to directions on bottle, then immerse eggshells in dye-bath and stir with metal spoon until desired shade is reached. Rinse shells in cold water; set aside to dry. Note: Since eggshells range from white to brown, dye will cover them in varying shades, adding to the interest.

To Apply Eggshells: Break up eggshells into irregular pieces, varying from about 1 1/4" in diameter to bits the size of a pinhead. Apply larger pieces first. With small paintbrush, cover back of shell with film of glue; place in position with tweezers. Press shells firmly until they are flat and glue adheres; the pressure produces a crackled finish. For tiny pieces, just dip into glue and apply where needed to fill in small areas. When glue has dried thoroughly, spray with clear enamel.

TRAY: Additional Materials: Two paper trays, 10 1/4" x 5 1/4" (the kind used for packaging meat). Orange spray paint. Green and orange dyes. Four 3/4" felt disks.

To Make: For a sturdy tray, glue one tray inside the other; then wet edges thoroughly with water and apply glue between them, squeezing the two edges together until they adhere to each other. Place a weight on center of doubled tray to hold its shape while drying. When dry, spray with several coats of orange paint.

Using actual-size flower patterns above, trace flowers and transfer to tray. Glue on eggshells, making two orange flowers with dark green centers, two light green flowers with orange centers, a dark green flower with white center. Add a few dark green bits scattered over background. Fill background with various shades of undyed eggshells. Spray with clear enamel. Glue four felt disks to bottom corners of tray.

The ancient art of matching small pieces of stone, glass, etc., to form a mosaic design can be experienced with dyed eggshells! Pieces of colored shells are glued to a painted or papered surface. Note the vibrant marbelized effect in a bowl of fruit against white fiberboard, in the 16" x 20 1/2" picture above. Paper tray with natural eggshells and bright flowers becomes a snack server.

PICTURE: Additional Materials: White fiberboard, 16" x 201/2". Dyes: red, green, purple, yellow, blue. Lattice strips, 1" x 1/4": two 16" long, two 21-1/8" long. Small nails. Hammer. Dark green paint. Paintbrush. Gold braid, 2 1/4 yards.

To Make: Enlarge design for bowl of fruit above by copying on paper ruled in 1" squares; transfer design to fiberboard. Glue on eggshells, using following colors: red for apples, yellow for lemons and bananas, light green for pear, purple for plum and grapes, medium blue for eggplant, light blue for bowl, dark green for leaves, stems, shadow. When glue is dry, spray with clear enamel.

To Make Frame: Fit lattice strips closely around outside of fiberboard; nail together at corners; paint dark green. Run a line of glue around edges of fiberboard and place frame over it with frame extending to front as shadow box. To finish, glue gold braid along inner frame.


This article, from the 1979 Women’s Circle Crafts & Needlework Collection, includes a good tip where to find more eggshells...

Eggshell Mosaics

Transform your eggshells into a work of art

Next time you crack open an egg, don't throw out the eggshell. It is a valuable item which can be transformed into a work of art.

The shells of one dozen eggs can make an 8" by 10" mosaic. You will probably want to color them first. This can be accomplished by washing them thoroughly, then placing them in containers of water tinted with food coloring or clothing dye. After they reach the desired color, remove from the color bath and place on newspaper to dry.

Decide upon a design. If you can't think of one, a coloring book may provide good designs on many subjects. These can be traced onto a surface of cardboard, wood, matte board, or any sturdy backing.

There are two ways you can apply the eggshells to the board. First, spread white glue over the area to be covered with shells. Then, either crack them in your fist and sprinkle them on the glue or break them into large segments, place them on the board and press them in place.

Small areas are more easily covered with finely cracked shells. To do this, place shells in a cup, then smash them into tiny pieces with a fork. Sprinkle them in place or use tweezers to reach hard to get at spots.

You can apply the shells in one or more layers. Sprinkle or press them on as thick as you like, then pour thinned down white glue over all (a mix of flour and water also works as an adhesive).

Eggshell mosaics don't have to be made from predyed shells. Cover a board with white shells, then, paint your design over them. Use any type of paint - watercolors, acrylics, tempera, etc. Paint can also be used to touch up area or to add detail to predyed mosaics.

You don't have to eat 6 eggs every day for a month in order to get the shells for a large mosaic. Go to a nearby restaurant and ask them to save their eggshells for you. After one breakfast rush, they'll have enough shells for you to make a dozen mosaics!

Joanne Whitfield

Start saving eggshells today

It will be after the holidays before I dye any more eggs, so in the meantime I’ll post some of these articles that have been accumulating. The first one is from Creating Mosaics, by James E. Seidelman and Grace Mintonye, 1967. It’s a nice introduction to making mosaics for young people. Harriet Sherman’s illustrations are charming.

DO IT WITH EGGSHELLS

Start saving eggshells today. You will need dozens and dozens when you find out how much fun it is to make an eggshell mosaic.

Save the egg cartons, too. They have twelve little cups that can be used for storing the eggshells after they are colored and broken into little pieces.

Tint the eggshells different colors with Easter-egg dye. Make several shades of colors, some light, some dark. Break them into little pieces and keep the colors in separate containers. It's also good to separate the different sizes so that you can find them easily when you need them.

Eggshells break easily and are hard to pick up, so be prepared with a pair of tweezers. Or dip a pencil eraser in paste and use it for picking up bits of shells. You will need two hands when you are working with eggshells; one to pick up the shell, the other to hold it in place. Straighten out a paper clip to help you keep the shell in place.

READY? WHAT WILL YOU MAKE?

Find a piece of eggshell about the size of a quarter. Spread paste on the back, place it on a piece of paper, then press down with your finger and see it explode into little pieces. Take a paper clip and spread them around.

It's like a puzzle. As you pull them apart, you create a design different, unusual, and your very own.

Do an eggshell mosaic on the inside of a saucer or a plate. Spread glue over the saucer, then pick up each piece of eggshell and stick it in place.

When it's finished, cover the design with clear shellac.

Give your mosaic a Byzantine gold-leaf look. After the eggshells are glued in place, cover everything with gold paint. Wipe it off immediately with a soft rag, 4 but do it gently and carefully so that you don't destroy the design. A gold background will be left in all the little cracks around the shells.


MAKE GIFTS WITH EGGSHELLS

Jars and boxes come in many shapes. Look for empty cold-cream jars . . . pickle jars . . . small metal boxes . . . compacts that are ready to be thrown away because the mirror is broken.

Covered with an eggshell mosaic, any of these would make a handsome gift.

Cut a piece of lightweight paper to fit around the jar or box. Plan your design, then sketch it lightly on the paper. When it's finished, spread glue on the back of the paper and fasten it in place.

TRY—a pattern of stripes in different colors.
TRY—a solid color across the top of the lid with a design around the sides.

Spread glue over the design you sketched on the paper, then pick up the eggshell pieces, one at a time, and lightly press them in place.

An egg is an egg is an egg...

After reading the 1957 American Home article, I started thinking about different colors of eggs that would have been available then, and how cool it would be to make a mosaic using only the original colors of the eggshells.

Most commercial egg layers are leghorns, and they lay white eggs. But there are a lot of small farms raising less common breeds, and their eggs are all sorts of colors – blue, green, red, brown – and a lot of these eggs are making their ways to farmers markets, co-ops, etc. These eggs are well worth looking for, because not only are they all sorts of interesting colors, they are often from organically raised, free-range chickens. With urban farming on the rise, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are actually more varieties of eggs available now than in 1957.

Check out Henderson's Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart for a good idea of what’s out there. Granted some of these are pretty rare breeds, but someone in your area may be raising Ameraucanas (blue, green, pink), Marans (chocolate brown), Rhode Islands (brown), or Silkies (cream). Make friends with these folks!
 
Also keep an eye out for other non-chicken eggs - guinea hen and turkey eggs are speckled, for example. Try an image search for a few of these ("Marans eggs", for example) - the variety is impressive.

We believe that you can please the most discriminating friend

Here’s a real find – a gem of an eggshell article from the June 1957 issue of American Home. The magazine itself is a treasure trove of blissful, mid century domestic kitsch, as well as several really bizarre advertisements.

The article advocates using the natural range of colors of eggs - it is assumed that more of a variety was readily available in 1957 - and using vegetable dye for special colors. I really like the idea of using natural "flat white, ivory, pale honey, beige, warm brown, even some mottled shells". I’m not sure what qualified as vegetable dye in 1957, but today it usually refers to dyes made from vegetable sources. The article may be referring to something closer to food coloring (or something more sinister), but I’m not sure.

I really like the whale and shark...

The Egg and You

Ray Abel

Broken eggshells make beautiful mosaics! Eggshells have a surprisingly wide range of subtle colors—flat white, ivory, pale honey, beige, warm brown, even some mottled shells. If you want a still wider range of colors for your mosaics, use vegetable color dyes on some of the shells. Then they're as versatile as an artist's palette. Making eggshell mosaics is great fun, and you can decorate pieces to get results comparable to beautiful boxes, canisters and such that you'll see in exclusive gift shops.


Once you get started, you'll think of many ways to use this fascinating, inexpensive technique. And we believe that you can please the most discriminating friend if you choose your subjects wisely. An eggshell-mosaic box is a delightful gift idea, because your present won't be duplicated.

All you need to make the attractive decorative accessories shown on page 42 are some eggshells, vegetable color dyes, a pair of tweezers, adhesive, and shellac, varnish or clear plastic fixative spray—and. of course, the item you want to decorate. Since you probably have many of these things on hand, the cost of the decorating materials turns out to be practically nil!


With a bold rooster motif done in eggshell mosaic, a plain wooden box can become a thing of beauty, to be displayed with pride. Trim a mirror with deep brown and cream-colored eggshells in a diamond-like pattern, and it becomes an elegant piece. Let the sea inspire a handsome picture featuring a modern design of whales and sharks—rounded motifs that lend themselves beautifully to this medium. And you might decide to decorate a tall wooden box or a kitchen canister with a clown or a funny giraffe for a touch of humor. The possibilities are limitless!


In any case, trace your motif from a favorite picture—from a book, perhaps, or a greeting card or newspaper—and trace just the outline. Break eggshells into small pieces of various shapes. If you want to use special colors, dip piece of shell in warm vegetable color dye. Use tweezers for this. Dry colored shells before you proceed. Now see the step-by-step how-to pictures on page 42.

Here, step-by-step, is the way you decorate gifts with eggshell mosaics

First trace design you wish to reproduce onto tracing paper. Then blacken other side of paper with a pencil—or place a piece of carbon paper under tracing. Hold tracing on article (tape is easiest way) and trace design on to object.

Plan colors you will use before you start. If you want to dye shell, dip into warm vegetable color dye, holding with tweezers. Brush a coat of adhesive—the kind that dries transparent— on back of piece of eggshell and place on box with tweezers. Fill in picture, then background.

Use shell pieces of contrasting colors to fill in the background of the article so design will be clearly outlined. When the adhesive is fully dry (at least 24 hours after the final piece of shell is placed) brush over entire piece with clear shellac or varnish. Or use plastic spray.

THE AMERICAN HOME, JUNE, 1957

Some notes on eggshells, continued

A few posts back I suggested briefly soaking shells in vinegar to loosen the membranes. After experimentation I’ve changed my mind and method.

The shells do get pitted from the acid, which becomes apparent after they are dyed. This picture shows the results – the uneven patches of color show where the vinegar has eaten a little deeper. The dye - red food color, water and vinegar - is a little acidic so it probably contributes to the pitting as well. If this is the effect you want, then this is how to get it. I’m looking for a smoother surface, so I’ll be skipping the vinegar bath.

As it turns out, warm water works nearly as well. After soaking for five minutes, the inner membrane peeled out with no problem, easier than it would have if fresh (these shells had been sitting around for a while). The result is a shell with more even color and a smoother surface.

Later soaking in acidic dye baths should kill any bugs that may still be clinging, but you can add a few drops of bleach to the water bath if you feel better about it. Watch it closely though because bleach can damage eggshells if too concentrated.
The thinner outer membrane, which is firmly attached to the shell, doesn’t come out so easily, but it didn’t with the vinegar either. You can rub it out with your thumb, but this tends to cause the shell to crumble. I will be trying a few mosaics with this thinner membrane left in. Hopefully it is thin enough and firmly enough attached that the glue will still bond with the shell itself. I may learn otherwise – stay tuned.

Coloring eggshells

There are basically three ways eggshells are colored for mosaics, and a few variations for each.


1. Shells painted after they are stuck down.

The preferred Italian Renaissance method was apparently to make a drawing on a panel, then fill in with eggshells, laying them out in sections according to the drawing. Each section was then painted a particular color.

In a similar contemporary technique, shells are stuck down in well defined, separate areas of a drawing, and then each area is painted a single color, usually with acrylic paints. The result is a bold image composed of sharply defined blocks of color. The color is of course on the surface of the shell, so it has a different look from a mosaic pieced together from dyed shells, where the colors sit deeper and vary in tone and saturation. Typically the surface that the shells are to be applied to is painted, and the paint shows through between the shell bits, simulating grout.

A variation of this is to cover a surface evenly with eggshells, then paint a design directly over them with little regard to the pattern of the eggshells. The textured surface simulates the texture of a mosaic, and the paint doesn’t follow the pattern of individual shell bits. There are artists today who work with this technique with very nice results, but to me this is more about the painting than it is about mosaic.


2. Shells painted before they are stuck down.

The shells are painted with (usually) acrylic paint before they are broken and stuck down. This can produce either a mosaic with sharply separated areas of color, or else more complex pictures with shells painted in subtle variety of tone and saturation before they are broken and then carefully selected and placed to produce light, shadow, depth and gradations of tone.


3. Shells dyed before they are stuck down.

Eggshells take dye differently from shell to shell (and even different areas of the same shell) because of subtle differences in the structure and color of the shell. They vary quite a bit in tone and depth of color, resulting in a mosaic that looks more “textured”. These can be carefully selected and placed for variations in lightness and hue (see the very “painterly” mosaics of Mrs. Garren), or laid out in subtly mottled and textured blocks of color.


I plan on trying a few painting techniques later on, but for now I’m concentrating on dye. I’ll be testing several different dyes for color saturation, ease of use, overall appearance, and colorfastness. Supposedly it makes a difference if you use shells from fresh or boiled eggs, so I’ll be testing both.

 The contenders are:

Food coloring. These are used with water and vinegar and can be mixed for a variety of colors. They tend to be pastel but the colors deepen if left to soak longer.

Easter egg dye. Essentially food dye in tablet form. Also tends towards the pastel.

Pysanky dye. This is the dye used for Ukranian Easter eggs. It is much richer than food color or commercial Easter egg dye.

Fabric dye. RIT is the most readily available in my area, but Tintex was mentioned specifically in one article as the thing to use.

Results to follow...

The Lost Master and mosaics in the 70s

A few more newspaper articles today, the first from the May 22, 1966 Long Beach, California Independent Press-Telegram. Inez Garren, the artist featured in the article, is apparently the lost great master of eggshell mosaics. As detailed and well received as her mosaics seem to have been, some must have survived, though I haven’t yet found any other reference to her. Like Mrs. West before her, she claims to have come up with the idea and developed her own techniques independently.


Egg Shell Artist Emulates Van Gogh
By Violet Emslie Knudtson


HAD Van Gogh been fond of chickens he might have become proficient in another medium of art altogether. However, it is doubtful he'd have had the patience for egg shell mosaics. So it was left to Inez Garren of La Mesa to experiment with this form of art.

Mrs. Garren always had creative leanings. Widowed, she found lime on her hands and was intrigued by a magazine article called, "Create a New Hobby." She knew of no hobbies left to be created but one day the answer came.


"I was helping a friend dye eggs," she says. "It occurred to me that a lot of time was spent each year dyeing eggs, only to have the colorful shells thrown out. Why not use them to create a picture?"


BUT ONE couldn't go about dyeing eggs just for the colored shells, and no one could eat that many eggs, anyway. Nevertheless, Mrs. Garren began saving shells from her kitchen and persuaded friends and neighbors to have theirs . She started by dyeing small pieces of the shells with regular clothing dye but, although the colors were beautiful, they wouldn't shade satisfactorily.


"In fact," Mrs. Garren explains, "nothing seemed to go right at first. I used too much glue and the tiny bits stuck to each other and everything else, including me."

Surely it will never work, was her thinking at this point. She kept experimenting, however, keeping the shells in larger pieces until after they were dyed, and learning how to pull out the inside skin without breaking too many shells. Dyeing large quantities of shells one color at a time was quicker and less troublesome.

Shading became easier when Mrs. Garren learned to dip pieces part way in the dye and pull them out slowly to get light-to-dark shades. Each egg dyed differently, making a variety of shades from which to choose. Canvas board seemed to provide the best base for her mosaics. The dyed shells were broken into tiny pieces, as needed for the design, and were handled with tweezers.


THE DELICATE colors of the dyed shells seemed to suggest flower arrangements. The first mosaic she completed, and one of her most successful, was her own14x24-inch design of California wild flowers. In the meantime she was studying famous flower paintings in art books. She began making exact copies of some of those by such artists as Matisse, Monet, Van Gogh, Breughel, Renoir, Pissaro and others. A copy of an R. Ruysch was her first shell mosaic to win a prize in an art show.


In the three years Mrs. Garren has been working in this medium she has completed more than 24 pictures, in sizes from 4x6 to 14x24 inches. From 150 to 200 hours are required to complete a 14 x 24. Due to a problem with her eyes Mrs. Garren can work only in daylight and a single painting may lake as long as two or three months to complete. But it is not as easy to see how she can make a clear, glass vase half filled with water look like exactly what it is—using only egg shells. When a mosaic is completed she covers it with layers of glue to give it sheen and a hard finish. If necessary, the background is touched up with water colors.

THE LATE Alexander King, author and connoisseur of art, displayed one of Mrs. Garren's eggshell paintings in his New York living room. It hangs beside two other of his favorite works of art—a George Grosz. lithograph and a Hirschfeld caricature. Mrs. Garren made the 8.x 10 mosaic especially for the delighted King from a print of "Alexander and the Talking Tree," a Parisian miniature reproduced from "Shahnama," executed for Irahim Sultan, ca. 1425.

Inez Garren has had her egg shell paintings hung in the Art Institute of San Diego and they received favorable comment. As far as she knows she is the only person engaged in this form of art. It has turned out to be a satisfying hobby.

---

By the time this article was printed in the March 29, 1974 Mexico, Missouri Ledger, eggshell mosaics had been nearly inextricably entwined with dyed Easter eggs.


You Can Turn Eggshells Into Colorful Easter Gift

Don't throw away those eggshells!!! Now you can make decorative plates with a mosaic look that can be made from those eggshells colorfully dyed with liquid or powder fabric dye.


This is an inexpensive, creative idea for unusual gifts or decorations. Arranging eggshell pieces into designs, does take a little time but results are well worth the effort.


The supplies you will need are white eggshells, Kit dye, tweezers, white glue, clear shellac or varnish, grocery produce-tray or oval shaped, heavy paper plate.


Draw or trace design onto item to be decorated. Rinse eggshells and remove any loose pieces of membrane. Color eggshells by dyeing in a simmering solution of 2 tablespoons liquid dye made of 1/4 package powder dye dissolved in 1 qt water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Eggshells vary in structure, resulting in different shades in the completed design. Gently lift and stir eggshells in dye solution, rinse in cold water, and dry on paper towels.


Then you can make a pattern by enlarging the chart from graph paper. Each square equals 1/2 inch. Draw into each square that portion of design which appears in corresponding square of the chart.


Trace design on tray or paper plate. Apply glue to a small area at a time. Press eggshell pieces into place until flat and the glue adheres.


Following the color chart, fill in outline of your pattern first, then fill in center area and finally background. Bread eggshells into smaller pieces as needed to fill open spaces.


When glue is completely dry, brush on a protective coating of clear shellac or varnish or use a plastic spray.


You may use any colors you desire that will be necessary for your design. The edge of the tray can be finished with a color coordinating tape. These would make cute Easter gifts, instead of the regular colored eggs.

---

Cedar Rapids Gazette, April 4, 1974. Eggshell mosaics were now an established staple of 70s craft culture.

Eggshell Excitement

MOSAIC - the placement of small pieces of materials on a background to make a design or picture — can be very exciting. It is fun to try many different types of materials such as bits of paper, particles of glass, tiny tiles or even small stones.


But an often overlooked art material for making mosaics is one that is found in most every kitchen, probably in the garbage. This is eggshell. It can be broken, colored, and arranged to make lovely works of art that are both decorative and useful. Here are some ideas using eggshell.


Begin your project by rounding up the necessary items to make your finished product. For example, you might wish to make some creative containers such as pencil holders, vases, paper clip holders, or just an interesting holder for odds and ends.


The supplies you will need depend upon what you plan to make. Probably you will need liquid or powdered dye, tweezers, white glue, clear shellac or varnish, a small fruit juice can, a tuna can, a plastic detergent bottle and the white eggshells.

* * *

To begin, draw or trace your picture or design onto the item to be decorated with the eggshell mosaic. Rinse the egg shells carefully and remove any loose pieces of membrane. Color the eggshells by dyeing them in a simmering solution of two tablespoons liquid dye or 1/4 package of the powdered dye in a quart of water. Usually directions for dyeing are given on the package or bottle, so you may want to check there. Usually the dyeing process takes about ten to fifteen minutes.


While you are coloring them, you may find that eggshells vary in structure, so that different shades may result which can add texture and intriguing variations in the finished design. After the eggshells have remained in the solution for the required period of time, gently lift and stir the shells about momentarily, rinse them in cold water, and carefully dry on paper towels.

* * * 

Next take your background piece or container. Working on a very small area at a time, apply glue to it. Press broken eggshell pieces into place until they are flat and adhere. Allow the glue to dry completely. Then brush on a protective coating of clear shellac or varnish, or you may use a plastic spray. Allow it to dry thoroughly and it will help the mosaic to last for a much longer period of time.


For specific items such as a vase or pencil holder, a few extra points of direction should be considered. If you are using a bottle that is plastic, cut the top from it with a razor blade or other sharp cutting tool. Use your glue sparingly so that the eggshell pieces will not slide down the bottle's smooth surface.


Special holders for pencils and clips can more easily be identified if they are labeled. To "write" words with eggshell bits, position the pieces to form the letters first. Then fill in the background. Break the eggshells into smaller pieces as needed to fill open spaces. If your containers have rims that show above or below the mosaic portions, you can color them with paint or fingernail polish.


Try some adventures with eggshells. You will find them very exciting as you discover ways that you can include them in art.

---

Corpus Christi Times, March 28, 1975.


Eggshell Mosaics


Patience the Main Material for Hobby
Copley News Service

Mosaic making is an ancient art known to many civilizations. And it remains a popular hobby with a great variety of people whose artistic abilities can range from very little to great, depending on the type of material used and whether the pattern is original or copied.

Seed mosaics and others made with beads, bits of metal and many types of material are popular.

Eggshells can be used to achieve very pretty effects. And outside of patience, white glue and paper, hardly any material is needed.

Wash out raw eggshells or peel away this outer layer from two hardboiled eggs. Crumble them so you have small bits. Black or brightly colored construction paper, used for a background, will contrast well with white shells.

The first step is to lightly outline a design with a pencil. It is a good idea to choose something fairly simple which has a pattern that is repetitious. A flower petal is one good idea.

Once the design has been sketched, squeeze white glue from a tube so that a very fine line covers it. Be sure to work on only a small section at a time since the glue dries rapidly. Work quickly to sprinkle the bits of shells.

A toothpick proves handy for moving the pieces slightly and also serves to press them firmly into place. If you depend on fingers to set them firmly, you will find they soon get sticky and tacky.

Work steadily until the design is all completed. Then, allow the shells to dry thoroughly. Shake off any excess pieces which might remain, though if you have pressed carefully, there should be very little loose material.

---

The Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News, July 20, 1975. Besides giving a nice description of the process, the reference to Victorian and Mexican eggshell mosaics is intriguing. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a reference to grout of any kind – I’ll be trying the tempera paint as suggested.


Mosaic With Eggshells

By Judy Harper


Picture making with bits old colored stone, glass, etc. is one of the oldest known art forms. It was brought to a height of beauty and perfection by nearly every civilization that used it, from the Babylonians and Assyrians, to the Egyptians, and then from the Romans to the great Byzantine Empire, where Mosaic Art was truly perfected to glorify and adorn the early Christian churches.

Victorian ladies whiled away idle hours making theirs with bits of colored eggshells, and it is a way of making pictures that continues even today.

Their method was to dye the empty eggshells first and then, bit by tedious bit, put together a charming composition, usually a bowl of fruit or flowers.

Mexican ladies of the era also enjoyed making eggshell mosaic pictures, but simplified the method for more flexibility of design and less tedium in the making. This is the form I learned when first exposed to eggshell mosaic, and the method by which the illustrated "conventionalized carrot" picture was made.


An eggshell mosaic may be made on any surface suitable for painting, but this particular one was done on 3/4 inch white pine, as it is one of a set of whimsical vegetables intended for kitchen decor.

The surface must first be prepared with two smooth coats of gesso.

When you begin collecting eggshells for mosaic making, be sure to wash them with clear, cool water and remove the thin membrane, which actually peels off quite easily.

When your picture surface is ready, coat a small section at a time with thinned white craft glue. Then, place a section of eggshell on the wet glue and press it down flat with the bowl of a spoon. As you flatten it, it will crack into many small pieces, which will subsequently produce the mosaic effect. If you don't remove the membrane the shell will not crack satisfactorily.

Cover the entire picture surface in this manner and be sure to fill in any spaces with additional bits of shell. Tweezers and toothpicks are almost essential tools for this art.



When the glue is thoroughly dry, gesso once. Let dry, paint the entire surface with a background color (I use acrylic paints) and transfer a suitable pattern to the painting surface.

Paint your chosen design rather simply, with little or no shading.

For subject matter almost anything will do, as long as you keep it simple and logical for mosaic.

When the painting is dry, spray twice lightly but thoroughly with a clear acrylic sealer. When this has dried, cover the entire picture heavily with white tempera paint. Do not use acrylic paint for this step. The tempera should be at a smooth, creamy consistency.


Let dry for just a minute or two and then wipe the picture with a soft, dry cloth. Like magic, your mosaic picture will appear, as the while tempera sinks into the cracks between the eggshells and serves as grout.

Let the picture dry for several hours and then seal with a coat of whatever glaze or varnish you prefer.

Frame or finish as you wish.

Very cool mosaic made by schoolchildren

I just stumbled on this beautiful and very touching mosaic made by a group of Toronto schoolchildren.

Read the story here. Truly an impressive group of kids!

Article - Eggshells Go In Pop Art!

This syndicated article was printed in papers across the United States in late 1965 - early 1966. I like that it’s presented as a hip “marvy, pop art” medium, as interesting to this young artist as it was to the elderly Mrs. West.
It’s actually a pretty good guide, and several tips for technique and materials make it into the story. The artist isn’t too concerned about the membranes. I’ll keep peeling them, thank you.

She recommends a specific dye – Tintex clothing dye, soaking the shells for 20 minutes. Tintex dye is still made though not easy to find. It can be mail ordered for about a dollar a box. I’ll be testing it along with other dyes once I have them all gathered together. There is another, completely different Tintex dye made in Australia, which will probably be the first thing you find if you search for Tintex on the internet.

Click on the image to see it full size.

Eggshells Go In Pop Art

By KAY SHERWOOD

(Newspaper Enterprise Association)

If your artistic sense is feeling dull and undernourished, how about a pop art pick-me-up, a far-out something you can concoct yourself right at the old kitchen table?

A "marvy" young career girl I know telephoned me the other day from her steamy intellectual den in the heart of Manhattan to ask me how my family liked eggs.

Her domestic concern for our family's cuisine was out of character (I think she lives on black coffee and bright ideas) and the urgency of a long-distance telephone inquiry made me suspect my enthusiastic young friend was going to involve me in a "project." The last time we talked she persuaded me to try my hand at batik design—an encounter that left with me a deeper regard for the East Indians who know what they are up to in batik. I was right.

Pop Art

What we did with the interior of the egg—the yolk and the white—was our business, she explained.
     “Save the shells, it's the shells you'll need."
     "How many?"
     "Oh, about five dozen — I've had everyone in the office saving eggshells and bringing them to me. Just wait till you see."
     "See what?" I asked, intrigued.
     "Eggshell mosaics, absolutely wild, marvy. It's pop art for real," came the breathless answer.


A basic concept of pop art, I gather, is taking the ordinary object and turning it into something extraordinary. I allowed eggshell mosaics would certainly fill the bill.

First Step

"O.K.," I told her. "Send me pictures of what you're doing and I'll start saving eggshells." I'm not up to the five dozen yet but I have followed her directions for a small preliminary mosaic to see how it goes.


Shells are rinsed and saved. Eventually they are dyed with home fabric dyes. Why are fabric dyes recommended? I asked the Tintex Color Council who underwrote t h e experiments. The answer is that home fabric dyes come in a wide range of colors, including some subtle shades, that they won't fade, are inexpensive and will dissolve readily in hot water from the tap.


First step is to sketch or trace a design on heavy cardboard. You might like the sunburst effect shown with this story or a still life, landscape or a bizarre subject flavored by pop artists: soup can labels, soap boxes, comic strip characters.

Dye Shells

Dye shells, using separate bowls for each color. Leave the shell fragments in the dye for 20 minutes. Work with at least two colors to achieve variety of shading. Don't worry about the membrane inside the shell. It takes on a different shade in the dye bath.


When the shells are dry, break them into small pieces and glue them into position on your design, using a clear or white adhesive. Cover a small area at a time. Set the shell fragment on the glue and anchor it with a firm poke from an instrument, such as a letter opener.
The shell bits won't conform exactly to your sketch but the end result is the mosaic effect. When all bits are glued in place, spray with clear varnish or plastic sealer.



The photo caption reads...


AN ARTISTIC END to the morning's scrambled eggs is the eggshell mosaic in a sunburst design shown here. Design is drawn on a white palette board. Shells were tinted red for the background, black for the outlines and filled in with dyed shades of blue. White adhesive is squeezed on a small area at a time. Shell fragments are poked into place with a letter-opener. Finished mosaic is protected by a spray coating of clear varnish. Dyes used on the shells are the nonfading home fabric dyes with a T-7 catalyst.

Eggshell artists

The 50's through the 70's may have been the heyday for eggshell mosaics, but there are still plenty of artists making some very interesting pieces. A quick search through Flickr brings up quite a few.

This very nice Grover was made by Flickr user "soopahgrover" and was based on a Fozzie Bear mosaic in the Muppet’s Big Book of Crafts. The different shades of blue give it a nice, old stained glass effect. She dyed the shells in commercial Easter egg dye, which isn’t known for producing super vivid colors, but she left them in extra long and got this nice effect as a result.

Kathie Luther (Flickr name "Heart Windows Art") gets some interesting 3D effects from layering shells. Several techniques are involved in her pieces – gluing in layers, sanding, painting – and she gets some very interesting, textured results.

Below are two examples by “Pevart”, a Hungarian artist whose pieces look more like traditional mosaics, which she also works in.

This house number by Brazilian artist Bijujú is classic, subtle, and apparently weather proof (some very thick glaze will make yours weatherproof as well). Check out the clock!

And as long as there are schoolchildren, they will come up with simple, cool little designs, like this one from Highlights Magazine.

Article - Mrs. West and her wonderful rooster

I have a few old eggshell mosaic articles that I will be posting from time to time. First up is the Sunday, December 16, 1962 Eugene Register-Guard, featuring a veritable one-woman craft army, Mrs. Lewis West, who could apparently make a mosaic from almost anything. That rooster she is proudly displaying is a classic! I would love to see it in color.

She started using eggshells because they reminded her of polished rocks she had found on the beach.

“As I walked along and picked up the polished rocks I wished I had a barrel of them. Their colors are so soft and subtle. Later as I was cooking eggs, I was struck by the similarity in the texture of the shell to the sand worn rocks. And I thought ‘why can’t I color them and use them in mosaics’.”

“I tried everything – food color, egg dye, fingernail polish, water colors. Finally, I tried clothing dye. It produced the even color I wanted. And it’s inexpensive. One package colors boxes of egg shells. The dyes are easy to mix or to combine for many hues.”

But making mosaics with egg shells is not for the impatient, she warned: “It’s a tedious job. I like to do it in the evening when I’m watching television.”

Click on the article to see it full size

How many eggs are needed for a given project?

This is a rough guide. The number you will actually use depends on several factors - the size of the egg, number of colors used, the amount of shell that is not usable (there will be a lot of tiny, unusable fragments), etc.

Rather that trying to calculate the surface area of the egg (no easy task, though I could have pretended it was a sphere for a close estimate), I drew out a grid of half inch squares to glue the pieces on.

I used a large egg and dyed it in blue food coloring just so it would show up better on the grid. I then glued down all of the little pieces, covering one square at a time.

I did this quickly, so the pattern is much chunkier and uneven that it would be on a finished piece, but you can see that one shell does cover a lot of space – over 12 square inches for the large egg I used.

Knowing this, I can make a rough estimate of how many shells I will need. An eight inch by ten inch picture, for example, will require 80 square inches of egg bits. If an egg covers 12 square inches, then 80 divided by 12 = 7 eggs (rounding up). Of course you’ll probably want to figure out how many eggs of each color you’ll need. That takes a little more work.

Here’s a simple scene of the trylon and perisphere to show how to estimate the number of eggs needed for each color. The trick is to divide it into pieces that are relatively simple to calculate areas for.

The circle is two colors, but it is mostly white, and it’s much easier to figure the area for the whole thing. The formula is A=pi*r² where A is the area and r is the radius of the circle. So A=pi * 1.5² = a little over 7, which is a little over half (.59) an egg.

The other white part is half of the triangle. The whole triangle is 8 inches tall by 1.5 inches wide at the base. The formula for the area of a triangle is 1/2 of the base times the height, or 1/2 * (8 * 1.5) = 6 square inches. Half of that, 3 square inches, is white, and half is blue. So the total for white - the circle and half the triangle - is a little over 10 square inches, just under one egg. Blue is another 3 square inches plus a little for the edge of the circle, maybe 4.5 square inches total, less than half an egg for the blue.

Since the shapes are irregular, the rest of the picture is a little more difficult to measure accurately. However it is small enough that a rough estimate should be close enough. The whole picture is 80 square inches (8 inches by 10 inches). Subtract the total area for the circle and triangle, leaving 66 square inches. There are two colors, each covering roughly half the remaining area, or 33 square inches each. That rounds up to 3 eggs for each color.

That should be close enough for a relatively small, simple picture, but for something larger you may want to divide each area of color into squares, rectangles and triangles, calculating the area for each. Quick measuring and math gave me a total of 30.8 square inches / 3 eggs for the dark orange, pretty close to my quick guess, above. There’s 6 square inches for the triangle, 7 for the circle, and 30.8 for the dark orange, 43.8 total. The whole thing it 80 square inches, so 80 – 43.8 = 36.2 or just over 3 eggs for the light orange. Three should do it since they actually cover more than 12 inches square each.