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After The Chocolate Has Gone

01/05/2009

Most children will have long finished their Easter eggs by now but six prominent Scots and the Herald newspaper have left a longer lasting legacy for some of Scotland's most vulnerable children.

An auction of wooden eggs decorated by Scottish artists and illustrators raised a fantastic £713 for CHILDREN 1ST. The sale was organised and publicised by the Herald newspaper and we are very grateful to them and, of course, the egg decorators themselves:

  • Alasdair Gray
  • George Wyllie MBE
  • Steven Camley
  • Lesley Banks
  • Whyn Lewis
  • Dennis Shields

Scroll down to see the unique eggs that were snapped up by our supporters!

Egg decorated by Alasdair Gray

1. Alasdair Gray


"If I'm doodling, faces come easiest to me. Starting off drawing a smooth, female egg-shaped face, I thought I should do something as different as possible on the other side. And I thought a fierce, grinning hairy man would make a nice contrast."

Alasdair Gray is an artist and author of several novels including Lanark.
Egg decorated by George Wyllie MBE

2. George Wyllie MBE


"I had thought of making it like an egg-shaped nuclear bomb and putting fins on it to counteract the happy aspect of Easter. But I didn't want to make it too serious. So I thought of Chic Murray and his tartan hat."

George Wyllie MBE is a sculptor who lives and works in Gourock.
Egg decorated by Steven Camley

3. Steven Camley


"My thing is caricatures. So I thought, why not do half a dozen sort of egg-heads? Easter for me is not about religion. It's all about chocolate really, isn't it?"

Steven Camley is a cartoonist and regular contributor to The Herald and Sunday Herald.
Egg decorated by Lesley Banks

4. Lesley Banks


"I have been working on new paintings that are based on Venice − mainly interiors with just a wee glimpse of the city out the window. So I thought it would be nice with the egg to paint the actual buildings of Venice."

A retrospective of Lesley Banks paintings opens at The Park Gallery, Falkirk, on 16 May.
Egg decorated by Whyn Lewis

5. Whyn Lewis


"Since it's for Easter I thought, why not a rabbit. The rabbit on the top of the egg thinks it's on its own...but there's another one hiding on the bottom. I use animals to express how I feel about life and people, and relationships, and things like that. I think it is great that the eggs here are being auctioned to raise money for a children's charity, since Easter is so much about children and bringing new life."

Whyn Lewis's work is exhibited at the Inspired exhibition at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
Egg decorated by Dennis Shields

6. Dennis Shields


"This egg is a detail from a sculpture I did back in the 1980s called Thin End Of The Wedge. In creating this piece I was interested in the religious symbolism of the egg and of the crown of thorns. So the piece carries religious connotations both of life and death."

A former member of the Glasgow Group, Dennis Shields has been exhibited at the RSA, Edinburgh.

Last updated: 20/07/2009

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