By Tanya Steele
An eggstraordinary range of painted emu eggs is on show in the Dandenong Ranges until 4 May.
The Meggnificent Emu Eggxhibition is in full swing at the Sherbrooke Gallery and opened on Saturday 12 April.
The annual exhibition has brought several different artistic styles and techniques to the show, which a spokesperson from Sherbrooke Gallery said made judging challenging this year.
A piece called ‘Pretty in Pink’ by Carol Toogood came first, and second prize went to a local artist, Alana Dang, for her intricately hand-carved egg.
Titled ‘Emperor’s Gift’, Alana designed the piece to come apart to form two cups.
Split on the decision, judges awarded third place to two lucky winners and ‘Eggmu’ by local artist Elizabeth Cogley and ‘By the Waterhole’ by Tasmanian artist Ruth Bosveld
First place winner Carol said she chose to paint an image of a flamingo preening, as it portrayed the bird’s elegant beauty, and suited the egg shape.
“Last year, I painted my first emu egg for this exhibition, and it was also ‘bird’ themed, a King penguin couple – So I wanted to continue the theme,” she said.
Carol is a hobby artist and has been creating her art regularly for the past 15 years.
“I enjoy using various mediums, my favourite subjects being animals, domestic or wild,” she said.
“I am thrilled and delighted to receive this award, which was quite unexpected.”
Second place winner Alanda said she was ‘absolutely chuffed’ to win second prize and is a recent addition to the hills, and has been very encouraged by the local art scene and said the Emu Egg exhibition seemed like a good opportunity.
“I am mostly a hobby artist and have just moved to Upwey,” she said.
“The emu egg seemed like an exciting medium.”
The artist had been wanting to explore some of her Vietnamese heritage, and decided to explore it using her entry and said the classic dragon style and thundercloud patterns inspired the design.
“A lot of the motifs on the egg come across in Vietnamese art – and the dragon symbolism also comes with the phoenix as well,” she said.
“It’s a bit of yin and yang.”
The aptly named Meggnificent Emu Eggxhibition has now finished its second year, and the eggs are on display until 4 May at the Sherbrooke Gallery in Sherbrooke.
For more information, please contact the Sherbrooke Gallery, Sherbrooke Art Society at 62 Monbulk Road, Belgrave on (03) 9754 4264.
