Jane Marshall

It all started at Easter. I was decorating some eggs when one cracked and I began to paint the inside of the shell. A spiritual friend said it reminded her of the Japanese art of Kintsugi, the concept of which is to not only highlight any imperfection, but do it in a way that brings added beauty to the piece. Each shell is washed, its inner membrane removed, trimmed to size with nail scissors, painted with gesso, decorated with paints or inks then finished with gold and/or silver leaf, and finally varnished. Demand has out-stripped supply from our own chickens, so a local cafe provides the shells. It is a jazzy process: breakage is a possibility up to and including framing, and while the gold leaf brings light and joy to each miniature, it also contributes unpredictability to its outcome.