Workshop spaces are currently filled!
Stay tuned for the announcement of a future Cosmic Egg Decoration workshop!
Celebrate spring with Nashville artist Carolyn Coleman at Frame Gallery Gifts and Art on March 15 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in an art workshop to decorate “cosmic eggs,” a story-rich meditation on the egg as an ancient symbol of the “already and not yet” of living.
In this beginner-friendly workshop, participants will decorate three eggs with acrylic paint, tissue paper, a pen or pencil, and/or Mod Podge.
The workshop fee of $45 per person includes all supplies. You can pay via Venmo (@Carolyn-Coleman-30) or by check at Frame Gallery.
The Art of Egg Decoration
“Eggs at Easter can be dyed, deviled, and delightful,” said Coleman, who began painting eggs in 2020 using vibrant acrylic colors and varied materials. Over time, each cosmic egg became a canvas for storytelling and celebration.
The art of decorating eggs has been around for a long time.
In Christianity, of course, the egg symbolizes new life and resurrection. In Orthodox icons, for example, Jesus’s resurrection often figures within an oval shape, oftentimes white, called a mandorla. In the legend of the Easter egg, Mary Magdelene’s basket of eggs turned red upon seeing the risen Jesus.
“Decorating eggs is an ancient art form,” said Coleman, who is also a Rector at Saint David’s Episcopal Church in West Nashville, a death doula, and a dying well educator.
There is evidence of engraved ostrich eggs as old as 65,000 years ago in South Africa.
The egg-painting tradition spans the globe, from Persians dying eggs on the vernal equinox to the Chinese giving red eggs on birthdays and at the end of the first month after birth.
The Western Christian tradition of dying eggs at Easter may have origins as eggs given as sacrifices to pagan gods as spring appeared. One example is the Germanic goddess Ēostre, bringer of light and springtime.
“In the study of world religions, we see a whole genre of creation myths that involve an egg,” Coleman explained.
“Such eggs give rise to whole worlds, to gods, and finally to humanity. Some scholars relate the theme of the cosmic egg to at least eleven creation stories in which the cosmos emerges from an egg or an egg-like celestial structure floating on the pre-creation waters of chaos. If Jesus is the New Adam emerging from the mandorla in those icons, then the Christian resurrection story is a cosmic egg story as well.”
Coleman holds two degrees in the academic study of religion. Her time in religious studies feeds her penchant for looking for the symbolic and searching for the sacred in all things, especially the ordinary.
She lives in Nashville with her 16-year-old daughter and tortitudinous cat named Blackbeard. Her oldest child is a college senior in Washington, DC. Carolyn spends much time on the mountain, especially in the woods, with her sweetheart David.