Coiled Mosaic

Eggshells, patience, and a slightly obsessive need to see what happens next.

This one started purely because I wanted to try something with texture. Nothing grand, no deep concept, just curiosity and a slightly reckless willingness to see what would happen if I glued a ridiculous number of eggshells to a canvas.

It is only an A5 piece, which somehow makes the fact that it took more eggs than expected mildly offensive. I cleaned them, dried them, cracked them, and then glued them down one painfully slow piece at a time. There is something quite meditative about repetitive fiddly work like that, although I suspect anyone watching would just call it unnecessary effort.

Once the surface started to build up, the pattern immediately made me think of scales. Not in a grand mythical way, just that quiet moment of recognition where you see a texture and your brain goes, well that is clearly a snake then. So I leaned into it and started shaping the image around the surface rather than fighting it.

Painting on eggshells turned out to be a whole different game. You cannot just load up a brush and sweep across like normal because that fills the gaps and defeats the entire point. Instead I had to work the paint down into the tiny spaces, almost stitching colour in rather than applying it. It was slower, more deliberate, and honestly a bit frustrating at times, but also quite satisfying when the texture stayed intact.

I have mixed feelings about the finished piece. It is better than I expected I could do, which always feels like a small win, but there is also a list of things I would change if I did it again. The snout looks slightly odd in the photo, which is mildly annoying because it reads fine in real life, but that is the risk when texture and light get involved. You cannot control every angle.

My bedroom is white, cream and gold with a hint of champagne. Which is a polite way of saying beige, but we will pretend it is intentional design. Because of that, this might actually end up on the wall in there. Maybe. If I do hang it, it will probably be the only one of my paintings in the house, which says a lot about my current confidence levels. I do not think it is quite good enough if I am being honest, but I also know progress does not happen without making things and learning from them. Note to self, paint more to progress more.

Overall this piece feels like a checkpoint rather than a statement. It is me experimenting, pushing a little outside what feels safe, and figuring out what I enjoy in the process. And honestly, that is reason enough for it to exist.

Inspiration

I wanted to experiment with texture and see what would happen if I used everyday materials instead of traditional mediums. The eggshell idea came first, the subject came later once I saw the surface forming.

Coiled Mosaic explores textured acrylic techniques using eggshells to create a tactile snake painting that captures experimentation and artistic growth.

Curious to see another side of my visual work?
👉 Explore my photographic art collection

Fancy something a bit more wordy from my brain?
👉 Read my poetry here