From a crafternoon activity with my young daughter, to international original art sales: the story behind my eggshell artwork so far
I'm Nicola / Nikki - thanks for popping by!
I live in a beautiful village on the Essex/Suffolk border with 20+ hens, 15+ quail, two dogs (Pickle the poochon and Wilf the chihuahua), two cats (Petal and Missandei), and a small human.
I have a background in copywriting and PR, but I am now on my dream path transitioning to full time artist as I take on more sales and commissions.
I started painting eggshells with my daughter in 2018, as an impromptu crafternoon activity following a scrambled egg lunch.
My daughter and I loved exploring colour on the mini eggshell canvases and it became a regular hobby for us. It was even more special because we were using the eggs laid by our first four chickens (the flock has grown considerably since then!
It took a while to build confidence to ‘go public’ with my artwork. I’ve always been ‘the creative crafty one’ in my friendship circles but hadn’t previously made the leap to promoting or selling my work. But this year I’ve dedicated more time to it and I’m so enjoying meeting lovely people in both the creative and chicken-loving online communities, and spending my days creating artwork and establishing my profile as an artist.
I love working with nature and bringing it inside to light up our indoor lives.
.My work is defined by the use of eggshells as my medium, but I love experimenting with varied colour palettes and textures, natural pigments and premium art supplies, 24ct gold leaf, and a variety of tools.
Using eggs laid by my garden poultry resonates so deeply with me: it captures my values of nurturing, home, family, and countryside life; reusing and repurposing natural waste to create homemade treasures; embracing nonconformity; and finding beauty in imperfection, the everyday, and the fragile.
I have a big thing for warm palettes, bright colour pops, and all things gold!
I adore working on bespoke commissions to match clients’ interior colour schemes - and I also really enjoy it when my customers send in eggshells from their own chickens for me to use!
Aside from my art and my chickens, I have lots of love for English literature (I studied English at Cambridge University), Greek mythology, crochet, gardening, and cultivating indoor plants. I run a free local village book exchange; I dream of one day having a smallholding; and I’m determined to get a campervan one day!
Do come and say hello on Instagram or Facebook!
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Nicola Burton is an Essex artist producing chicken art, egg art, eggshell art, feather art, chicken-themed gifts, unique art gifts, contemporary art for your home, and bespoke commissioned art.
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