There are many animals around home. Some here by our intention, some by their own intention and then there are the wild ones who travel from yard to yard and non-human inhabited areas in between. Many of them lay eggs and go through different stages of development. Working in the garden and yard I have found eggs of insects, lizards, frogs and turtles. Once I have discovered them I leave the area alone until a later time. We have alligators in our area and the summer is a time when the females guard their nests until the eggs have hatched. I am glad to say that I have never come across a snake nest, but I know they are around and I am always glad to see our speckled king snake or at least the shed skin.
We have four hens that lay eggs for us. We have had them almost a year and I enjoy having them around. They are more like pets in that they all have names they will come to and they will follow us around the yard if anyone is out. They can scratch and eat figs and grapes that are in season. We do feed them and they will gladly eat out of our hands. Two of the hens, one a Rhode Island Red named Red and the other a Barred Rock named Mater, lay light brown eggs. One hen is a Buff Polish and wears a gathering of feathers on top of her head that reminds me of Phyllis Diller’s hair. She is Henrietta and she lays white eggs that are slightly more pointed than the other eggs. The fourth hen looks like a Barred Rock but doesn’t have the big red comb on top. Instead of light brown or white eggs she lays darker brown eggs with darker brown spots.
The egg has appeared in art for a very long time. Its shape is perfect for studies of value not just in black and white but also in color. From the browns and white of our hens to the greens and blues of other hens, eggs come in many colors and sizes. Their shape is great for still life studies of how light travels across a curve and then slips down the underside into shadow. Egg -shells can be polished and carved into beautiful pieces of art or even turned into small evening purses if the egg is large enough.
I have sketched and eaten the eggs our hens give to us and find they taste differently from the store-bought eggs. Recently Little Black as we call her decided to sit on a nest. Thanks to Pompy the rooster she hatched three chicks and they each look like they were under a table with spilled paint that dripped. They are white, yellow and have black splotches. The largest chick has brown patches over the eyes and they all have tufts of feathers that stand up on top of their heads. And so the cycle will begin again. The chicks will grow into roosters and hens that will roam about the yard scratching and eating figs and grapes when in season offering me more opportunities to sketch and photograph eggs, hens and rooster.
