Hello old friend!

Gordon, it is so great to see you back on the net. It gives so many of us the opportunity to soak up more of your wisdom and enjoy your touching stories. I am very grateful to Dien for making you the 'star of the show' at this site...at least for this moment in time.

You, of course, know my story of how a tragedy took me down a totally different path and led to unimagined success with an uncommon art-form. In fact, you were gifted with one of my creative works a year or so ago.

But for others whose path I've never crossed...In 1990, my life took a tragic twist when one of my 4 sons passed away. I was devastated.

Only a few weeks later, I also lost the use of a leg when my knee was torn up and my leg was fractured in a game of tennis. (don't ask...yes, I was playing a pretty agressive game at the time)
It was one of those flukey things that can happen now and then.

As fate would have it, the accident happened on my birthday. I indulged in a pity party since my life was already going pretty badly for me. My plan had been to escape a depression, resulting from the death of my son, by staying active and fully engaged in life.

But after the surgery to repair the knee and set my leg into a unattractive ankle-to-hip cast, I must confess that I slipped into the blue funkeys.

My well being had been seriously threatened. I needed to do something. But what?

I prayed...and allowed myself to daydream - a lot!
I began considering things I could do to pass the time during the lengthy recovery process and my fracture enforced inactivity. I couldn't very well hang out at the shopping malls to window shop. What seemed like a 100 pound cast on my leg kept me reclusive while my leg healed.

So, eventually I let my imagination come 'out to play'. I really needed to escape the sadness of my reality while I was putting Humpty Dumpty back together again - me!
I began to remember the joy that my creative endeavors had often brought through the years.

And, one thing I knew for certain. I desperately needed to feel a sense of joy again.

I decided to think of something that I could create with my hands to allow my mind to go into that wonderful state of 'flow' that all creatives know and love. Time passes quickly in that state of mind.

I decided that I wanted to make little gifts for the people who had surrounded me and my family with such love during our crisis with the loss of our son and brother.

With that decision, I began to get outside of myself as my thoughts turned to what I could do for other people and my desire to bring a little unexpected joy into their lives.

That WAS the turning point in my emotional recovery. Now, all I had to do was to decide what I would make for them.

After more daydreaming, I decided to buy some equipment to do glass engraving. In my search for equpment, I came across a photo in a magazine of a pierced and carved eggshell. The man had originally used a dental tool to achieve the results. But now there was more sophisticated equipment available to make delicate cuts on even very small eggs - such as the paper shell thin chicken eggs.

*Bingo*, I thought...that's it! I enthusiastically made the decision to purchase the equipment and do whatever it took to teach myself that delicate art form.

Initially, this was only to be something that occupied the hours of my life during my healing time. However, after spending about a thousand hours, in my workshop, I began to fall in love with this new passion. My ability to draw and use my freehand art with the tool came in useful...making each shell a 'one of a kind'.

To shorten my story somewhat...one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I was no longer focusing on a painful reality, but was excitedly preparing my little 'gifts' for my friends and loved ones.

Also, while working away in my new craft, I had plenty of time to reflect as I came to understand, even more fully, just how fragile our lives are. Just like an eggshell, one minute it is...and then 'oops...it isn't!' All of this led me to a deeper appreciation for the gift of life. I didn't want to waste any more of the precious
moments I had left. My peace of mind was being restored. Ah, serenity. It's priceless!

Yes, as I realized that just as I was turning something that is normally thrown away...a duck or goose egg...into a thing of beauty...a miraculous thing was also going on inside of me.

The 'almost end of the story'...my friends and acquaintances loved my gifts and raved about the uniqueness of each shell. They strongly encouraged me to show my work to the world. At first I hesitated.

After a time, I began to get calls as word spread about what I was doing. I was invited to participate in a fund raiser for our local historical museum. I was flattered. And, my donated eggshell carving brought them a lot of money - for a good purpose. That was neat.

So, I continued to contribute my artworks for a time to other charitable causes. Watching the reception of the excited buyers of my work boosted my self-esteem. I did have a purpose! I was doing something good for my fellow man while I was taken 'aside' in my own life. That realization gave me the self confidence to broaden my journey with the eggshells.

In 1994, I worked up the nerve to enter into a world-wide competition with other eggshell artisans. My carved Swan egg won the award in my division. It was purchased, immediately, by the Franklin Mint of Pennsylvania. Cool.

That was such an honor. But I knew that I would have never pursued this uncommon work without being 'stopped' in my path...and turned in another direction due to the circumstances in my life at that point in time. (I had never been patient enough to sit and learn such a tedious skill prior to that time.)

Yet, as many creatives have experienced, I had become too successful and was in jeopardy of experiencing 'burn out' - a real threat that can rob the joy from the endeavor.

Once again, fate intervened and for the past year and a half, I have taken a 'sabbatical' from my work after another event of a disasterous nature interfered with the momentum I had going. But, for everything there is a season.... So true.

Yet, in spite of my dropping out of the 'art scene' for a time, the requests for my shells have continued. That has led me to believe that I AM truly on a path where I belong.

I know that I would have never come to this place in my life without the tragic circumstances that took me out of life's mainstream for a time. I was set on a totally different course that I probably wouldn't have ever imagined traveling...before I gave myself permission to open my mind to doing something 'different'.

My daydreaming -- and then taking action... set into motion the possibility of re-discovering a 'gift' that has always come naturally to me - creative expression that flows from my heart.

But I had often ignored it; thinking instead of using my time for more 'serious' things, only.

For years I had pushed myself into ventures that weren't always really 'in tune' with my nature...but I pushed myself, anyway, to become more in step with what I thought the world expected of me. Something more conventional.

It was like coming home again to finally give myself permission to explore an artistic talent that had been sitting idle for years. I had years of art training as a child, my parents thought it was wasted money UNTIL now. It just took a good part of my lifetime to discover the 'perfect' medium that was 'just right' for me. Perhaps the timing was perfect, indeed, for me to awaken to my 'inner calling'.

Later this year, I will be bringing my art to the internet. My son has just begun to create a web site for me to present my eggshells to the world.
I'm getting excited all over again.

But most importantly, I want my web site to be a place where others can freely share their stories with the world. I want to know how their daydreams came true and the wonderful serendipitous changes that others have experienced when something wonderful came out of the ashes of their lives. That is what I am REALLY getting excited about.

My journey with my art is not complete. I sense it. It has already opened many doors and allowed me to explore an avenue that I never took seriously before all this happened. As they say, when one door closes...another opens!

Gordon, tell me true...is your eggshell carving still in one piece? It was an expression of my gratitude for all the joy you have brought into the lives of many who have become acquainted with you via the net.

Dien, once again...thank you so much for creating such a wonderful forum. I wish you much success!
I look forward to my daily visits here.

Stay true to your heart... and always celebrate life!
Amber


Not ready for prime time...but if anyone is wondering what a carved eggshell looks like, you can see