Winner of the 1999 Extravagant Egg Contest
Painted Category

"Hibiscus"

Tanya Howell

"What is this... an eggplant?" Tanya indicated the unusual 
looking egg sitting in a miniature African violet plant container. 
Her co-worker. burst out laughing, then explained that it was 
an emu egg. "She told me that her family raises Emu." Her 
friend went on to explain that a relative of hers had painted a 
scene on one. This immediately caught Tanya's attention and 
she asked if she could buy one of the shells to try painting on it. 
Her co-worker brought her 2 shells and told her that if she 
would paint one for her, she could have the other one. After 
Tanya painted the shells she showed them to another co-worker. 
This coworker wanted to buy them. This was 4 years ago, and 
Tanya hasn't painted on any other surface since.

"Southern Magnolia"	"White Hibiscus"

Tanya has been painting all of her life. She started out at the age 
of 10 doing pencil sketches, began painting at the encouragement 
of friends and family. She's worked with watercolors, oils, and 
alkyds but enjoys acrylics the best. Over the years she's painted 
on everything from cloth to wood, the majority of her work being 
rendered on canvas until she discovered egg art.  The designs 
Tanya uses are uniquely her own. In addition to the flowers and 
hummingbirds that she is well known for, she does commissioned 
portraits of people and pets. A portrait egg can often take 20 to 
25 hours to complete, where an egg like her winning "Hibiscus" 
takes 5 to 6 hours. Tanya mixes her own acrylics and only works 
on one egg at a time. 

"And His Countenance Shown Upon Me"

Tanya has branched out into carving also and is one of the 
organizers of the Heartland EggsPo, 1999 for more info on these 
egg classes, visit http://www.shelby.net/charltan/overview.html 
 

Visit Tanya's web site at http://www.shelby.net/charltan  or 
contact her via charltan@shelby.net

If you live in the North Carolina area, Tanya's eggs are available at:
Wendy-Lyn's located in Shelby, North Carolina
Gem Stones located in Shelby, North Carolina

"Yellow Iris"	"I Saw It First"