Art in the palm of your hand

Paul Clinton

At her booth in the Home & Hobbies building, Karen Kettering is

describing the individuality of each handcrafted egg she has made.

“Eggs are like babies,” Kettering says. “They come in all

different sizes.”

Kettering then proceeds to demonstrate the art of egg carving, as

it is known.

Cradling a half-decorated ostrich egg in her right hand, Kettering

shows off her hobby by walking onlookers through the process of

decorating, or carving, an egg.

First off, the egg decorator must pick an egg: ostrich; rhea;

finch; even tiny quail eggs can be used. The eggs are purchased “blow

out,” with no yoke, so they can be easily carved.

Then, using an egg marking tool, Kettering will draw geometric

lines on the egg to delineate where she’ll cut it and where she’ll

apply various decorations.

After drawing her lines and making the chosen surgeon-like cuts,

Kettering can apply beads, gold braiding, acrylic paint, diamond dust

glitter and even decoupage, a decorative wallpaper-like covering.

Kettering, who lives in Huntington Beach, says she has also

applied a crystal clear coating to give the egg a shiny look.

For one egg, Kettering cut out all the watches from magazine ads

she could find and covered an egg with them. She added rhinestones to

give the piece a three-dimensional quality and inserted a mini clock

into the front.

An egg she created last year, called the Honey Bee, won a Best in

Show award at last year’s fair.

Kettering also created a Presidential egg for President George W.

Bush for his inauguration.

“Egg art is a lost art,” Kettering said. “We want people to know

this is about art. We want to bring it back.”

The most famous egg art, or course, was created by Carl Faberge in

late 19th Century Russia. These eggs, which were made for the Easter

celebrations of the czars, were made out of enamel and gold.

Egg carver Paula Ames, a Norwalk resident, has a quick response to

questions about Easter egg painting.

“We’re not busier at Easter than at any other time,” Ames said.

“We get that question all the time.”

The decorated eggs can take between three and 12 weeks to make and

can cost about $25 to $50 at the low end and as much as $8,000 for a

high-end egg.