EGG. SHELLS. Seriously. This is the delicate, beautiful work of Elisa Sheehan… delicate, beautiful work that began because of a happy accident:
“What started as a studio warm-up exercise has turned into this ever-growing and expanding collection of artwork. As I spent the freezing cold hours of 5-7 am in my studio each morning, I doodled in cleaned eggshells originally slated for the compost in order to warm up my body and mind. As my collection of eggshells grew, I turned to painting in them as well. A chance pre-dawn eggshell painting session where I dropped and shattered a shell I’d been painting led to the connection of the ancient Japanese practice of Kintsugi practice to my eggshell paintings. I hand paint each eggshell before gold leaf is carefully applied as a visual representation of kintsugi. Each delicate eggshell carries not only visual beauty but representation beauty and meaning as well.”
Ah, I love studio “mistakes” that turn into entire bodies of work! You can find Elisa’s available pieces on her site, and you can follow her at @elisasheehanart.
You guys, somehow I managed to get American artist Sandy Skoglund on my podcast! I actually learned about Sandy in an art history class waaaay back in the early 90’s, and here we are today, chatting!? We talked for over two hours, and every story was a gem. Aside from hearing about how her installation photographs filled with cheese doodles and neon green cats came to be, I also found out that she worked at Disneyland’s SpaceBar in high school, painted baby faces on cakes in Detroit to pay for grad school, and she even did a little go-go dancing to help cover the rent for her New York studio… and that’s just the tip of the fabulous iceberg! Look/listen on my site, or download ART FOR YOUR EAR wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday ~ Danielle
I love Elisa's delicate and colorful, and satisfyingly organized, eggshells. And ironically, I was reading about Sandy Skoglund last night! I can't wait to hear about her fascinating work! Thanks, Danielle!
Beautiful