Works of Art From Skulls and Eggshells

I found a real gem today – artist Verna Hitchcock has been working in eggshell mosaics for decades, using the natural colors of eggs for many of her pieces. This article is from the March-April 1967 issue of Design.

Works of Art From Skulls and Eggshells

by Frank Martin

South African artist Verna Hitchcock decided that she would like to make mosaic pictures from broken eggshells. "I was impressed with the natural colorings, which are impossible to reproduce with paints," she explained. "I remove the inner skin and stick then to the hoard with a special glue which bonds the shell to the hoard. I spend many hours in the country looking for discarded shells, and also receive regular supplies of shells from gamekeepers, etc., who are able to find the more rare eggshells."

Interest was added and a new project undertaken when Miss Hitchcock, traveling the countryside in search of shells, began finding several skulls of animals (mainly rabbits, foxes, and birds). The artist immediately began to consider the possibility of creating beautiful works of art from these gruesome relics of death in the wild. After first cleaning the skull, she gave it a coat of light colored gloss paint. (This tends to create a porcelain effect and overcome the stark cruelty of the bone.) Next, Miss Hitchcock worked on the skull with enamel paints, decorating it with brightly colored designs.

Since her initial discovery, Miss Hitchcock has collected many skulls ranging from sheep and deer to swans and tiny ferrets. They uniquely adorn the mantel of her home in Hampstead, London.

An admirer who had heard of her work recently sent Miss Hitchcock two giant elephant skulls as a gift, hoping that she can turn them into objects of beauty. The artist, contemplating her new project, says, "I will first have to fill in the cracks, and then give them a good scrubbing before starting to paint. However, they certainly present an interesting and different challenge!"

Before this article, Ms. Hitchcock was the subject of this 1964 British Pathe short. If anyone recognizes what brand of glue she is using, please let me know.

EGGSHELL ARTIST

Click image to watch video

In 2009 she displayed the bulk of her work at London’s Hellenic Center. This was supposedly the first public exhibition of her work, although the British Pathe film seems to indicate otherwise. The April edition of the Marylebone Journal included this article about Ms. Hitchcock and her work.

Marylebone Journal

April / May 2009, pp 30-31

EXHIBITION OF A LIFETIME

Verna Hitchcock

7 April – 5 May

(Closed 10–13 April, 17-19 April, 4 May)

Mon-Fri 10am-6pm

Sat-Sun 12pm-5pm

Private view 22 April, 6.30pm-8.30pm

Hellenic Centre

16-18 Paddington Street

020 7487 5060

helleniccentre.org

Verna Hitchcock has spent decades devoting her life to creating a large and highly distinctive body of art. But despite her obvious talent, none of her pieces have ever been shown in public. Now she has taken the extraordinary step of booking the Hellenic Centre’s impressive exhibition space for a whole month to put her life’s work on display.

The idea behind Verna Hitchcock’s amazingly detailed egg shell mosaics came very suddenly. “I found a whole load of magazines that somebody had thrown out,” she says. “In one of them there was a picture of an Etruscan woman. I was looking at this image and from nowhere I just thought, gosh that would look lovely in egg shells. I got so excited that I picked up the phone straight away and said to the chappie at the grocery store: ‘How many eggs have you got? Send me about three dozen, but make sure you mix up the colours; the whites and the browns.’ He thought I’d gone mad, but I said: ‘Just deliver them.’ And that’s where it started.”

Another time she found a company that made lightbulbs with bright colours baked onto the bulbs. They sent her huge black bags filled with old fused bulbs which she smashed up with a hammer and used to make wonderfully colourful mosaics. Recently she has been experimenting with pea shingles – small stones used for laying pathways – which she has used to create a striking portrait of a young protester in Trafalgar Square. Any material she finds – fabrics, wallpaper, copper piping – she’s sees as a potential medium for her pictures rather than as everyday rubbish.

Verna’s apartment is full to bursting with paintings and objects – large, framed pictures hanging on the wall or just stacked up in piles; glass bottles that she’s covered in plaster then varnished and painted; Japanese dolls that she’s housed in elaborate cases. She has boxes full of the most beautiful stones, found on beaches, which she has covered with shoe polish and buffed to a shine, and extraordinary fossils – huge ammonites and belemnites – uncovered on Whitby Bay. The whole place is an Aladdin’s cave of artist’s materials, works in progress and hundreds and hundreds of finished pieces.

Verna herself remains something of a mystery – she’ll talk happily about her work, but she gives away very little about her past. She was born and raised in South Africa, but has been in the UK for many years. “I ran away really,” she says. When she was young she was an athlete – a high promising sprinter – before discovering “boys and cigarettes”. That’s about all she’ll say. The only other clues come from some faded old photographs, letters and press cuttings mounted on a board in her apartment, including a hand-drawn cartoon sent to her by Alfred Hitchcock. She had read in a newspaper that the only thing the film director was afraid of was eggs, so she wrote to him about her mosaics and sent him some cuttings. He sent her back the cartoon and a note saying: “I am glad about my disinterest and your interest in eggs.”

Now, for the very first time, people other than visitors to Verna’s unusual little flat will have the opportunity to see the fruits of a lifetime of loving labour. Despite being hugely prolific and obviously talented, she has never previously had any desire to show her work in public. “Most artists create 20 pictures then hold an exhibition, then make another 20 and hold another exhibition. I never did that. I was happy, I just lived with them and they were mine. But then I thought, damn it, I need to hold an exhibition. I want other people to see my work.”

The result is a remarkable event being held at the Hellenic Centre throughout April, at which Verna will finally bring her life’s work blinking into the daylight. But it’s not like most private shows – Verna has never sold a piece of art, nor does she ever intend to. Her exhibition is meant as nothing more than a way of sharing her work with the outside world. It’s a brave, highly individual, charmingly eccentric act – a reflection, if ever there was one, of its creator.

The photos from the show, or at least thumbnails, are viewable here (click the arrows in the upper right part of the frame) and here. The pictures are small, but you can get an idea of how cool these are.

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

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

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!

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.

A little history

Apparently eggshell mosaics were popular in Renaissance (and slightly earlier) Italy. The artist/biographer Giorgio Vasari mentions eggshell mosaic (musaico di gusci d' uovo) in his Lives of the Artists (Architecture) in 1551. He specifically associates the technique with Gaddo Gaddi, a Florentine painter and mosaicist who lived from 1239-1312 or thereabouts. None of the mosaics seem to have survived.

On his departure from Arezzo, Gaddo went to Pisa, where he made, for a niche in the chapel of the Incoronata in the Duomo, the Ascension of Our Lady into Heaven, where Jesus Christ is awaiting her, with a richly appareled throne for her seat. This work was executed so well and so carefully for the time, that it is in an excellent state of preservation to-day. After this, Gaddo returned to Florence, intending to rest. Accordingly he amused himself in making some small mosaics, some of which are composed of egg-shells, with incredible diligence and patience, and a few of them, which are in the church of S. Giovanni at Florence, may still be seen. It is related that he made two of these for King Robert, but nothing more is known of the matter. This much must suffice for the mosaics of Gaddo Gaddi. - The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Volume 1 by Giorgio Vasari, A. B. Hinds, trans, 1900

Sometime in the 15th century, the painter Cennino Cennini wrote Il Libro dell' Arte, a sort of handbook of Renaissance art methods. He included a short section on creating a "mosaic with crushed eggshells, painted... take your plain white crushed eggshells, and lay them in over the figure which you have drawn; fill in and work as if they were colored... when you have laid in your figure, you set to painting it, section by section, with the regular colors from the little chest... just using a wash of the colors. And then, when it is dry, varnish, just as you varnish the other things on the panel." He's referring to work on glass, but you get the point. He goes on to describe the gilding of crushed eggshells.

It appears that the artists working with eggshell at the time intended to simulate the texture of mosaics and some of the aesthetic by blocking out distinct areas of color. With traditional mosaic, all properties of color, shading, etc. are dependent on selection and placement of available tesserae - the little pieces of stone, glass, tile etc that make up the mosaic. Individual areas of color are distinct and border each other sharply - there is no blending like there might be with paint.

The next reference I could find was in the May 1926 issue of Popular Science, where an artist used them to make decorative objects in the style of seashell encrusted boxes, etc that were popular at the time. Like the Italian masters, she painted her scenes after the eggshells were applied to the surface.

By the 1930’s articles mentioning eggshells appear, peaking in the 60’s and early 70s. So far I haven’t found a definitive “first” use of dyed eggshells for mosaics, but at some point a definite aesthetic emerged. Below is an example that showed up on ebay recently – this is the “classic” look of an eggshell mosaic.