From Zero to Egg

Hi everyone,

My name is Atchara and I am from Bangkok, Thailand. I was a housewife with a lovely husband and we are blessed to have 2 kids. I started off making eggs when my kids turned to be teenagers (and started to have their own social world). I remembered there was one free afternoon that I went to the mall for a walk as usual that I bumped into the egg art school. It might sound exaggerating but I think there was a certain magic from the egg thats drew my feet into that school.




That day changed my life forever. Right now, I become a full-time artist owning my egg art gallery in Bangkok and people visit me from around the world! But this is not what I'm proud of the most. The most pride I derive from my work is that I helped many lives of poor farmer, artists, and families to earn their second income.





I purchase non-fertilized eggs from farms all over Thailand. These eggs are pretty much useless for these farmers so they are very happy when I see the value of their eggs and purchase from them. I make most of the eggs myself with the help of about 10 part-time artists who rotate into my house when they are free from their work to help me work on several stuffs like making the moulded-paper box, stitching the cloth, grinding the stone to form paint. Those who are skillful enough will even help me create the work.





My gallery was selected by the government campaign "OTOP" (One Tumbon One Product) as a featured product of my neighboorhood area on Silom Road. The government arrange an occasional roadshow to countries around the world and this gives me opportunity to travel to many places I never imagined I would have a chance to visit! And right now, through the assistance of my business partners, Belle and May, I am so happy to announce that we have our first online store to reach out to the international community on Etsy under the name "EggsR'Us". All of our eggs that we sell on etsy.com are handmade by us. If you are interested in seeing eggs made by my apprentices please email me and I will provide you with more images. Please visit my Etsy store at www.eggsrus.etsy.com.

Unforgettable Egg Art Lesson

I enjoy making eggs more than trying to sell them. During my free time I offer lessons to show people how to use my techniques in making egg art. The pictures below are interesting because it gives you a visual of how the egg is transformed into a beautiful work of art. The magic will happen right before your eyes. This course is called the "Decorated Goose Egg with Acrylic Paint" and its the one I like to start off teaching....sort of like Egg Decorating 101. During one of my classes I met Belle who turned out to be a new found friend.

1st Picture: So I said that I would show you from start to finish. Well, let me take that back and show you what the finished egg looks like. The pictures you will see here are Belle's egg art. Belle has a natural talent for handcraft art and her interest are vary from scrapbooking, jewelry making, handicrafts, and now egg art.

2nd Picture: Here is a blown & thoroughly cleaned goose egg. This is a very important and time consuming process. The egg has to be sanitized and sun dried for several hours before it is safe for decorating. Sun drying is the most effective way to clean an egg and luckily Thailand has plenty of heat and sunshine! Belle started off by scrubbing the egg shell with sand paper to increase the stickability of the paint. The paint can last decades if you use the proper technique.

3rd Picture: Simple tools are used to carefully measure and draw a line so that we can cut the egg symmetrically.



4th Picture: Belle is very good at being precise. This step can be very difficult for many studens as drawing a straightline on a round-shape egg is not easy. If the line is not straight and centered then the egg won't open up nicely.



5th Picture: An Electric saw is preferred to a hand saw for its precision and low crack rate. Belle was amazed to learn that the egg shell is much stronger than what it seemed to be. The mother nature designed the egg to be a barrier of protection for creating life!


6th Picture: Eggs were cut opened in two halves.



7th Picture: I always teach my students to take extra steps for sanitization to ensure maximum hygiene. Use alcohol or nail enamel remover and rub over surface of egg shell.



8th Picture: Lightly scrub the edges of the eggs with sand paper to smoothen out the harsh lines.



9th Picture: Carefully attach a hinge.



10th Picture: Painting Time! The acrylic paint was mixed into a small bowl. Belle chose pearlized white paint which is also my favorite color for decorated eggs.



11th Picture: Belle applied layers of paint onto the shell. She was very good at painting and also very patient to wait until each layer dry completely. If you are not patient and apply the next layer too quickly then the finishing will be rough and uneven. It was during this waiting period that I had the chance to learn more about Belle and her hobbies. I was impressed that she was able to transfer her skills in jewelry design into egg art. My classes gives me the opportunity to make new friends.




12th Picture: Here the inner egg was cushioned with velvet-like cloth. This step requires a gentle hand and good eye to make the cloth evenly wrinkled and distributed.



13th Picture: Beautiful cushioning.



14th Picture: The opening was covered with a gold thread.




15th Picture: Now the pearl-like beads were glued as a second layer at the opening. Belle suggested that we use real gemstones in this step! OMG! I think this will be way too expensive!!




16th Picture: A short stand was chosen out of the many designs that I had in stock.


17th Picture: Belle wanted to add a personal touch to this egg so she attached her mother's bow pin as a center piece of the egg! This is so creative and so green... re-use and recycle! I considered the egg decorating to be done at this point however, Belle was determined to B L I N G this egg.



18th Picture: Side view of Belle's work. Gorgeous!



19th Picture: Belle was very excited and proud with her newest creation. I remembered I told Belle that it must be the destiny that brought us to meet each other. We have a lot in common and we also share the same thinking about culture and art. We both want to teach people the art of egg decorating to keep this alive for generations to come.



20th Picture: This is her fully bejeweled egg. Even now, she still tries to convince me to use genuine gemstones on my decorated eggs. She thinks my art is precious and deserves precious gemstones! What do you think?



When we finished the class and were about to leave the store, an Egyptian customer walked in. My English was not very good so Belle helped me take care of this customer and managed to help me sell 3 eggs in my store!! I offered her a commission but she refused. I was very thankful to her. We continued to keep in touch as friends. Until a few months later, she suggested me to open an online store on Etsy! I told her I only have minimum skill on English language and computer. So she offered to help me with communicating in English. This blog could not have happen without her assistance. I never imagined that we could have an online store that would reach out to the international community. Who would have thought that one of my students would become a friend and business partner... I believe in destiny.