On a yearly basis, as we approach Easter, I move from drawing two dimensional cartoon characters to molding three dimensional characters inspired from film and literature. The egg is the fundamental building block for these creatures…carefully blown eggs.

Originally I used boiled eggs. Big Mistake. My wife took one to work for a show and tell. On the bus home, the character exploded. Not pretty.

In blowing eggs, I also learned not to bust a gut. After drilling fine holes at both ends of the egg with a needle-like implement, blowing out the fluid was an ear popping experience that brought stars to my eyes…and often led to cracked eggs and a gross mess. I found the right tool – a baby nasal aspirator that does wonders extracting the egg yolk and whites.

Each year I have searched the papers and internet for popular cartoon films, looking for my muse egg or two, waiting for some characters to speak to me. I heeded the call, “To Infinity and Beyond!”, “My Precious!”, “Oh, I am detecting nuttiness.”, “We’re all mad here.”, among other catchy phrases. If there is a theme, I might do two or three characters from the same film.

Given that certain nieces and nephews loved the creations, I started making duplicates so that my own cast of characters might surround me in my studio, posing in my muse gallery.

Some of my egg creations met grim fates in their adopted homes, crashing like Humpty Dumpty due to the over exuberance of a child handler. So as the kids have grown older, I have hoarded the creations for myself.

I Am the EggMan, Goo goo g’joob.