Eyecatchers: Beth Ann Magnuson’s Eggs

See that first photo here?

Those are eggs, people!!! Real eggs from real birds, carved by Beth Ann Magnuson using an engraving tool! (via designboom)

I know. Unfrickinbelievable!

As I’ve been curating my Eyecatchers series, I’ve come across a number of artists whose work stands out for either minute attention to detail, a painstaking/gentle approach, or both: Dalton Ghetti’s pencil carvings, Michael Grab’s Balancing Rocks, Andersen M Studio’s carved book and cut paper animations, Valerie Buess’s rolled paper sculptures, Claire Brewster’s birds cut out of old maps, just to name a few.

Well, Magnuson’s eggs definitely belong in this company.

Using ovum from turkey, chicken, duck, peafowl, pheasant, partridge, and quail, she draws out her intricate, lace-like designs with pencil, and then incredulously carves them out without shattering the fragile eggs.

Here are some of my favorites, followed by a video of Beth Ann’s amazing process.