Art of carving an emu egg
07.01.10
WHEN carving an emu egg, trouper craftsman Frank Slip knows the hale and hearty and feel of the blade as it whittles away at the one millimetre thick projectile of the 14cm long egg - he knows when to ease off the difficulty with his Stanley knife so as not to break the projectile. What is revealed in the tiny layers is no less than 10 precise colours, ranging from green-dusky to teal and finally, white.
The 85-year-old artist from Old Bar has been carving emu eggs for 64 years. He laughs as he reminisces his hunger apprenticeship and now on his 965th egg he admits the handiwork still holds the same fascination for him and he hopes his hands wash out until he at least reaches his 1000th egg. It takes three days to finalize his craft, and each egg is unique. Two years ago he introduced LED lights into his eggs, with the small batteries hidden under the stand.
Featured in the October/December climax of Australian Geographic magazine, Downright described his specialty of carving pictures of indigenous animals
Source: Manning River Times