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Arkansas egg comes to Washington to roost Thursday, Mar 27, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Judy Linstruth's hobby may seem to be a little, well, eggs-cruciating. The Benton County artist works with tiny tools and with such a small surface as her canvas, she cannot afford to crack under pressure. Bad puns notwithstanding, Linstruth is an accomplished egg artist whose work is now part of an eggstra-special annual Easter display in Washington. Linstruth created the Arkansas state egg for the White House's Easter festivities. It is exhibited alongside eggs representing every state and the District of Columbia. The Arkansas egg depicts the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, the world's only diamond mine open to the public. In an intricate process, Linstruth removed the yolk, used an adhesive to harden the egg then cut out parts of the shell using a tool similar to a dental drill. "It can be tedious, for sure, but you don't sit down and do it for hours and hours and hours on end," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Garfield. The American Egg Board coordinated the display at the White House Visitor Center and asked Linstruth to produce the Arkansas egg. Eggs in previous years highlighted Arkansas' natural scenery, hunting and fishing, she said. Linstruth said she thought the diamond mine theme would help educate others about a rarity in the state. "I did something that only Arkansas is noted for," she said. Linstruth is one of a handful of egg artists in Arkansas. She decided to take on the hobby after seeing similar work that was done by a relative 60 years ago. Unlike others who paint elaborate drawings on the outside of eggs, Linstruth mainly focuses on sculpting or adding objects to the egg. "I don't paint very well except to color the shell itself," she said. "I do carving, some etching, music boxes or clocks. Some of my eggs are animated. I do love it. It's my passion." Linstruth and her husband, James, moved to Arkansas in 1995. The retired AT&T employee now works as office administrator for the Garfield volunteer fire department. She displays her work for sale publicly once a year, at the annual War Eagle arts and crafts fair in Benton County. Linstruth also maintains a Web site, www.eggcitingdesigns.com. To prepare the egg she designed for the White House, Linstruth said she poked a tiny hole in an egg and used a small tube attached to an air compressor to drain the yolk. The carving tool similar to a dental drill was used to carve the shell and apply a pattern resembling a lattice. Designs in gold and the word "Arkansas" were placed on the outside of the egg. She used modeling paste and small cubic zirconia stones inside the egg to replicate a diamond mine. The White House required Linstruth to use a chicken egg for the display, but she said she has worked on eggs of every size, from quail to ostrich. Photos of the Easter eggs representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/easter/2008/eggsbystate. |
