Egg On

Sayeed’s artwork is on display at the India Habitat Center till April 15. Among the 99 works is a “coach for Cinderella”,made of an ostrich egg. Coated with pink pearl paint and embellished with golden cord,rhinestone chain and tiny filigree,the “coach” is driven by two horses painted in white and fitted with a saddle made of velvet.

A turkey shell serves as a neat ring holder while an emu shell transforms into a functional clock. Mounted on a golden stand,the shell has been decked with pearl chain and golden filigree. A heart-shaped door has been carved out on the rear to change the battery of the clock. Even the puny hen shell has been turned into a pretty souveni—-after bring boiled with natural leafy vegetables to get the imprint of leaves,it is mounted on a stand made of sea-shells. The pieces are priced between Rs 7,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

“There’s so much one can do with egg shells,” says Sayeed,who learnt egg art when she was in Qatar ,where her diplomat husband was posted 12 years ago (he is currently a joint secretary in Delhi). Sayeed first came across egg-shaped decorative pieces at a friend’s home. “Soon,I enrolled for a short-term course in Qatar to learn the art,” says the 39-year-old mother of three.

She has had two solo exhibitions of egg art in Denmark and Saudi Arabia and the current show,her first in India,will travel to Mumbai and Hyderabad.

“Egg art is not just about decorating the shells. It takes three weeks to work on one piece,and half the time is spent cleaning the shells,” says Sayeed,the only Indian member of the International Egg Art Guild,an association of artists who work with natural eggs.