Designed, built and hand moulded custom Easter egg design. Intended to hark back to the roots of the egg tradition and add an earthy esoteric flavour, I combined the image of the Orphic Egg, that with a serpent wrapped around it, with the Oroboros, a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail.

The original egg design was created in plasticine, and painted with a thick layer of latex to form a flexible mould. The whole thing was then coated in two halves of plaster, to support the shape. Then by cutting the latex in half and removing the plasticine, I could paint the inside with chocolate. I created seven eggs in total with this mould which I gave to family and friends for Easter 2009, using different combinations of dark chocolate with ginger or rose water, milk and white chocolate with chilli or almond, then covered in dried rose petals or coconut. As I used the mould it gradually degraded, losing some of the fine details.  The egg shown is an eighth, made just for pictures much later- the mould was not at its best by then.

What you can’t see is the dragon’s body with wings at the back, and the words “Light, Life, Love, Liberty” inscribed along the neck and tail. I think next year I’ll make a more substantial mould with food grade silicone and add extra detail to the egg part so I don’t necessarily have to bother with the extra coverings.