The Artist And The EGG

The beginning is really the beginning of the day.
The artist, like anyone else, needs a really good breakfast. I generally have my McCann’s Irish Oatmeal and a Thomas’s English Muffin with some Damson preserves and some good or bad coffee or Earl Gray tea. However, that is not the breakfast that Mom taught me to make.
Now my best friend like eggs sunny side up, loose and juicy. Mine need to be over easy, a tiny bit on the solid side: no runny whites. There’s nothing wrong with an omelet, but that’s another post and a tribute to Mr. Dumpty.
The sides can vary, but biscuits, toast, maybe a meat (maybe two), of course the Damsons or cherry preserves, good or bad coffee and some juice for the potassium.
The best part is company for the conversation. In lieu of that, a paper will sadly have to do.
Mentally preparing for the day of writing or gilding having had the benefit of a good breakfast, it is time to set out to work.
The egg is a marvelous creation. There are 4 parts. The shell, the albumen (the white), the yolk (the yellow) and the glair (the part of the white that never becomes meringue).
You CAN unscramble an egg. Feed a scrambled egg to a laying hen and the hen can digest the egg and create a new one, with very little loss of the constituent components. 
You need to have your wet or dry colors at hand, mixing trays, stir sticks and distilled water.
For tempera you can use the yolk. Break the egg, separate the parts, white, yolk and set the shell aside.
Tempera is a cheaper version of gouache and is great for posters, signs and large area coverage. It is sticky and adds a tiny bit of color to your dry or wet media.
The egg white is the choice material for mixing with colors. It too is sticky and flexible. If you store it in the refrigerator, you need to pull out the stringy parts occasionally. 
The real treasure of the egg is the glair. It is the light, clear substance that remains in the bottom of the bowl after you have removed the yolk and the albumen.
It is the stickiest part of the liquid and the part you want to add to your gouache and save for mixing with your raised gold or gum ammoniac compounds.
If you are saving it for a long time, it too will develop some stringiness. Use tweezers and get rid of the nasty parts. You can also filter it.
The shell? That goes to the garden. Wash them and put them in vole holes. They hate the sharp edges. Put them around tomatoes. Cutworms hate them and tomatoes love the calcium. Broccoli loves calcium too. 
Let’s hear it for the artistic, incredible, indelible, edible EGG.  tim  tim@timjohnsonphoto.com