Back in 1996 a parent from
Open Fields School, a small non-graded private school in Thetford Hill, Vermont, offered the school 100+ blown goose eggs. She thought the children could use the eggs for projects. But the late
Trina Schart Hyman, (April 8, 1939–November 19, 2004), an American Illustrator of children's books and friend of the school, suggested that the eggs be used for a fundraiser instead. Her idea hatched a bi-annual fundraiser where artists decorate the eggs and send them back to the school for an online auction.
Various types of eggs – goose, quail, hen and emu – are sent to artists all over the world. They return transformed with paint, ink, pencil, gilded, sculpted, cut, collaged and otherwise incredible eggs. Trina's "eggstraordinary" art event has become the school’s biggest fundraiser -
The Great Goose Egg Auction.
Despite skepticism at first, the eggs returned were great "Egg Art", and raised over $5,000 that first year. Since then, the school has held the auction every other year, and has raised as much
as $21,500 (
2006 auction, honoring Trina's memory). Over the years, the eggs have been donated by a dozen
Caldecott Medal & honor recipients and four Macarthur Fellows. Other contributions have come from alumni of the school, local artists, and volunteers from around the world.
I am excited to be a part of this great fundraiser that Trina Schart Hyman began. My goose egg arrived, neatly bubble wrapped in a brown box, back in November 2009. I unwrapped it and left it positioned on my drawing table for inspiration. It didn't take long and an image came right to mind of a baby goose sleeping. I did a sketch with a baby goose in a stroller. I pictured the baby goose on either side of the egg, in a night and day version. By night, sleeping. By day strolling
Here is a step-by- step diary of how I painted, "
Hello Baby Goose".
Then I added color in Photoshop.
