A Tale of Eggs Two Ways

Fun-sized Easter Edition

Michael Whelan

and

Michael Everett

Apr 20, 2025

Pen and ink remarque featuring a tiny dragon perched atop a broken egg shell. The hatchling cranes its head left with wings extended and ridged tail curling back toward it. The drawing is signed with the artist's initials and the year dated 2K.

This week I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge birthdays for a couple special kids in the lead up to Easter Sunday.

It’s hard to believe Adrian and Lauren’s son Rowan—the youngest member of the Whelan clan—just turned 1 year old! It’s even harder for me to fathom my eldest Tristan has rounded the sun on his 17th orbit. Please join me in wishing both all the joy and jellybeans they can handle!

Michael Everett

A ginkgo leaf balances on top of an egg. The egg stands up narrow side down at the center of a mostly intact ammonite fossil. A drop of dew weighs down one edge of the fan-shaped leaf. A penny sits on the outer edge of the ammonite spiral. The olive gradient of the background flows into earth toned ground that is splintered with cracks and intermixed with beads of dew. — A QUESTION OF BALANCE (2014) Egg Tempera on Panel - 12" x 9"

This pair of paintings was done as an experiment to see how readily my acrylic painting style would work in the egg tempera medium. Both paintings are compositions using the same symbolic elements: an egg, an ammonite fossil, and the leaf of a ginkgo tree.

In my work, ammonite fossils are symbolic of extinction while the Ginkgo is a symbol of survival and endurance against all odds. In these paintings, they are used in symbolic opposition, with life—symbolized by the egg—poised between. It was a private joke on my part to make an egg the central object in my first-ever egg tempera painting.

A ginkgo leaf balances on top of an egg. The egg stands up narrow side down at the center of a narrow ammonite fossil stacked on a layer of ammonites broken to different degrees. The whole stack rests upon a grainy wooden table with only the rounded edge visible against an olive background. — DELICATE BALANCE (2014) Acrylic on Panel - 8" x 8"

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Fantastically Human Art Exhibition

A cloaked and armored figure raises his sword in salute to a tiny figure in the distance separated by a chasm of broken earth shrouded by mist. A massive storm cell winds gray and blue across the sky intersecting the tip of the extended sword. A bright line of blue runs across the clouds as if etched by the unusual half-hilted, wavy blade. The orange cloak covering most of the figure (as viewed from behind) is decorated with a mass of wild crustacean arms ending in crescent claws. The icon on the pennant, flying tall on a pole held offhand, depicts a crab-like creature. The sky to the right of the storm is tinted warm yellow as the sun peeks out. A sliver of moon can be seen in a blue-sky break between the clouds. In the background left forks of lightning strike at the distant mountains on the horizon. — THE WAY OF KINGS (2010), Acrylic - 24" x 40"

If you missed the opportunity to see THE WAY OF KINGS when it was touring with the brilliant Enchanted art exhibition, the original painting will be on display at The Compass Gallery in Provo, UT this summer. You can also view fantastic art from Donato Giancola, Howard Lyon, and so many others.

“This exhibit invites viewers to consider how the stories we write, tell, and share give us space to wrestle with the human condition, questions of morality, the pursuit of justice, and metaphysical forces in our lives.”

For artists who would like to join the show, please note the call for submission closes on April 30th. For more information on this first annual fantasy exhibition, check out the details for Fantastically Human.

The Compass Gallery
250 W Center St. Suite 101
Provo, UT 84601

Exhibit Dates: June 6 - July 12, 2025

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Weekly Art Recap

Grid of images 3 across in 2 rows corresponding to the list below. — Art featured from April 14 - April 19

Gunslinger ‘88: Roland - for the Plume edition of The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Pipedream - an exercise in intentional thinking inspired by litter on a daily walk
By the Dragon’s Hand - figure study of Rand al’Thor for A Memory of Light
Blue Whale - borrowing from a mountain climbing term for a personal work
Spellweavers - for the second book in the Exiles trilogy by Melanie Rawn
At the Edge - commissioned for Messenger to Tintagel, a book never published

Coming Soon…Lovecraft Original Art

Join us for another Whelan Wednesday as we unfurl tentacles to present another star stone preliminary from At the Mountains of Madness.

An exclusive preview of the original art will be available for our paid subscribers on Substack before the art is released in our shop on Wednesday, April 23 at 11am ET.

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Burt Smith

Apr 20

Big fan of A Question of Balance for some inexplicable reason :)

It's been a while so I no longer recall ... was the penny also a symbolic element?

Utah is a bit far for us but we will be keeping an eye out for an event within driving distance of Connecticut!

P.S. I can never ever see the word symbolism without mentally quoting Boondock Saints :)

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1 reply by Michael Whelan

Laura Lasley

A very Happy Birthday to Tristan and Rowan! Children and grandchildren give us hope (and worry) and are so very precious. Like eggs they are so strong and yet so fragile. Here's to a bright future for them both!

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