Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Soft Side of Easter


While I naturally tend to gravitate toward vivid colors, I also like the whisper of soft pastel shades. 


There is something beautiful and romantic in the muted voice of delicate shades of 
pink, yellow, blue and green.




I bought this bunny a number of years ago. Isn't he a handsome fellow?


These are tissue paper roses my Mom gave me once upon a time.

To create the eggs above, first remove the contents through a small hole of either end. 

Years and years ago, I took a quilting class with my Mom. At the end of the course, a fellow student invited all the ladies over for a luncheon at her home. 

This woman's husband had been in the services and so they had traveled extensively in Europe. As souvenirs of the countries they visited, she had collected colorful, hand-painted eggs. I remember being struck by the beauty of these eggs, which had been gathered into large bowls. Scattered throughout the living room, the clusters of bright colored eggs were as fresh and cheerful as bouquets of spring flowers.

The quilting did not stick with me, but the egg painting did. Every year, I paint a few new Easter eggs. 

The three eggs in the foreground of the picture above are created by painting a natural egg with light washes of watercolor paint. I finish them with a clear coat of water-based varnish. (I prefer a spray application for this project.)


These eggs were made using a decoupage method. Cut out pretty floral illustrations with a fine pair of scissors and glue them onto an egg shell. (You could easily use papier-mâché eggs for this method.) Finish with clear water-based varnish.



The eggs in the jar were purchased, but you could easily replicate them by first painting an undercoat of a deep colored paint. Then, apply a transparent crackle medium ( Michael's). When the crackle medium is dry, apply a lighter colored top coat of paint. Cracks will appear as the top coat dries. Finish with clear, water-based varnish.

The eggs in the foreground are made using artist's pastel crayons. Color the eggs with a few complimentary shades of the crayons. Smudge the crayon lines with a tissue or soft cloth. Then, take some acrylic watercolor paint and apply a light wash over top of the blurred crayon lines. The crayon will act like a resist. Finish with clear, water-based varnish.

Today I am participating in Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen. I added her Sweet Treat and Silence textures texture to my images. Click the link here to see the other entries.

28 comments:

  1. Lovely story about the eggs. Fantastic photos..

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  2. Hi Jennifer - lovely to meet you here. You have a gorgeous blog - such wonderful photos - such creativity and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Lovin' the softer side of Easter! Beautiful photos:)

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  4. Such a beautiful photos!!! Love the pastel colors, and the texture is amazign!!!

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  5. Wow! Everything is just so pretty. Love your rabbit. Am amazed at the eggs. I've never seen anything like those decoupaged ones. Gorgeous!

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  6. Beautiful eggs Jennifer. When I was in elementary school we were taught how to create eggs in the Ukrainian style with dyes and wax. I loved that project and every time I see an egg think about how much fun that was. I imagine that every year you must experience that creative joy when you decorate your eggs.

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  7. Jennifer, the eggs are beautiful and I do love the softer pastels of Easter and the springtime.

    Eileen

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  8. Your Easter series is really wonderful. I love the top photo and the texture you used on it.

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  9. These were all like magazine shots. The vignettes are stunningly arranged. The eggs are artfully done and the instructions clear. I almost sound like your reviewer, but I think these are that good.

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  10. I especially like your first image: so lovely! And beautiful Easter Eggs.

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  11. My gosh beautiful shot and so many. I really LOVEEE the first one, edit is just gorgeous and those rose shot take my breath away also.

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  12. How absolutely beautiful, Jennifer! You are incredibly talented in so many ways. I have to echo fully what gardenwalkgardentalk has said here! Thank you for sharing all this loveliness with us :)

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  13. I really did the "oh wow" thing when I saw that top one with the pansies- just love the colours.

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  14. So beautiful!! The first photo would make an excellent print! :o) I have some gorgeous eggs from the Ukraine but love your pastel eggs. Gorgeous post, as usual!

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  15. Lovely Easter Post...all the eggs are beautiful and yes, Mr. Bunny is very handsome!

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  16. I love the pastel colour scheme, so soft and romantic like that pink tissue roses, the colourful eggs and the white flowers!

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  17. The texture is wonderful. Everything is so beautiful in this post. I used to paint pots to get that crack look too. So much fun. Happy Easter!

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  18. Beautiful flowers, handsome bunny, pretty eggs....wonderful photos Jennifer! I need to get some of my Easter eggs out, have some Ukranian eggs.

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  19. Gorgeous Easter images Jennifer! I love the idea of a handmade egg collection. I enjoy decoupaging paper mache eggs ~ A couple years ago Martha had an article showing eggs with botanicals, butterflies, etc., on them. They were so incredible. Yours could have been right there alongside hers.
    Hope you have a wonderful Easter too.

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  20. Your eggs are all so beautiful! Do you use real eggs and do you keep them after the season? I think I would for sure if you don't as they are works of art. I've seen a lot of tissue paper flowers but none as pretty as your roses your mother gave you. Gorgeous! Happy Easter to you!

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  21. Yes Jennifer does use real eggs and keeps the completed projects for future Easters. Unfortunately for my lungs and head she gets me to blow out the contents (ouch).

    She has,however, repaid me with a beautiful egg featuring Lord Baden Powell, the founder of Scouting.

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  22. Lieve Jennifer,
    Jouw eieren zijn prachtig mooi!!. Wat heb je hier een mooie paassfeer gecreeërd. Ik hou heel veel van pasteltinten.
    Maar jouw konijn? Hij is echt een knapperd!!!.
    Jennifer, ik wens jou een heel fijne Paasfeest.
    Lieve groetjes, Elly

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  23. Such beauty! ...and all in one place--I really enjoyed browsing around. Thank you...

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  24. Your Easter decor is beautiful! Happy Easter to you!

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  25. What beautiful pastel images of Easter!!

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