LAKE GOODWIN – Lynda Matson is scrambling to try to get more people interested in egg art.
“We need young people to carry on” the tradition,” she said, adding she took a class with her mom in 2003 and has been actively involved ever since. She teaches classes as far away as Dallas, Texas. Matson said there are a dozen reasons to get involved.
1. The Washington Decorated Egg Show will take place July 8-9 at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood. About 120 artists from all over the world are attending, but admission is free for the public to view the art. 2. Matson is teaching a class where participants can make an egg that can hold jewelry. The kit is $35. “You get a nice little gift to take home from the show.”
3. About 25 of the 65 members of the Egg Artist Guild of Washington live in the Marysville-Arlington areas – the largest such group in the state.
4. You don’t have to be an artist to do it. “If you’ve never done anything before, we are more than willing to help. We want to keep the art going,” Matson said. The kits provide everything that is needed. For example, for a class Matson is teaching, she spends 2 1/2 hours on each ostrich egg, carving out a portion of it. “I cut the eggs for them” in her home shop with a high-speed drill.
5. You can sell them. Matson said it costs $175 for that ostrich egg class, but when you’re done you can double your money. “They’re pretty high-end eggs with nice stuff on them,” she said.
6. Not all egg kits are expensive. For canary or finch eggs the cost can be as low as $30. “A lot of people are scared to start because it’s expensive. You can start smaller,” Matson said.
7. The local club used to meet at the Marysville library for 20 years, but now it’s still fairly close by at the Holy Lutheran Church in Lake Stevens, 9613 20th St. SE.
8. People love to admire your work. The local club shows off its stuff at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe and elsewhere.
9. It may seem like it but you don’t have to be patient to enjoy the art. “Some people say I’m the most impatient person around,” Matson said with a laugh.
10. You don’t have to know how to paint to do it. “There’s classes on all types of stuff. There’s lot of things you can do with them,” she said.
11. You’re never too young or too old. People in their 80s are still teaching the art, and kids as young as preschoolers have been taught the art.
12. Eggs aren’t always breaking. Many are more sturdy than you might think, such as goose, duck, emu, etc.
Now are you egg-cited enough to try it? At least check out the free show.
