Face on The egg

Eggshells, usually thrown out after their contents are eaten, are palettes for art for a couple in Erdos, Inner Mongolia.

Wang Yueying, 72, and her husband Zhang Xilin, 79, have been drawing and sculpting on chicken, goose and ostrich eggs for eight years.

"In the beginning, I just drew pictures on the eggshells with my husband. I've loved painting since I was little," says Wang.

Art is not easy on a flat, stable surface, but it's even harder on a rounded, fragile eggshell. Zhang says that's where skills and patience come in.

The creation of an egg sculpture includes conceiving, drafting, painting, sculpting and coloring, says Zhang.

Chicken eggs are the most fragile and ostrich eggs are the strongest. "It's really startling to take it step by step. When you don't control your strength well, the eggshell cracks," says Zhang.

Most characters they sculpt originate in myths, classic novels or ancient Chinese history.

yuanhui@chinadaily.com.cn

Wang Yueying and her husband Zhang Xilin at work in their sitting room.

Wang's work inspired by Hu Jia Shi Ba Pai, or Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute.

Zhang Xilin's Genghis Khan series.

Hundred Tigers by Zhang.

(China Daily European Weekly 12/18/2015 page4)