If you have wandered into Dunn’s Attic and stopped in your tracks at a tiny, glittering, hand-decorated egg perched on a pedestal, you were not imagining things. That is not a museum piece. It is the work of Jill Aversa, an Ormond Beach artist who has spent more than five decades turning eggshells into miniature works of art.
And we do mean works of art. Jill represented the United States three times at the Internationale Randstadt Eierenbeurs in the Netherlands, one of the most prestigious egg art exhibitions in the world. She was one of only two American artists ever invited that many times. She twice took home their International Trophy, an honor selected by popular vote. Her work was featured in Eggs and Eggers’ World, and she earned Best in Show at an international art event in Dallas in 2010.
Not bad for someone who got hooked because she happened to glance into a craft store window.
A craft store window changed everything
It was the early 1970s. Jill spotted an egg in the window of a local craft store, and it looked, in her words, like “black marble with a picture in the marble.” She walked in, signed up for a class, and made her first piece, a two-door jewel box. “It’s absolutely hideous, but I keep it,” she once said with a laugh.
The technique is called scratch art. You dye the eggshell with natural materials like onion skins, then carefully carve designs into the surface with an exacto knife. The cutting takes the dye away, leaving the picture behind. After her first class, Jill signed up for an oil painting on eggs class too.
“Once I took the class, I was hooked,” she said.
More than 80 eggs and no two alike
Over the years, Jill has created more than 80 eggs, taught classes for fifteen years, and won a multitude of ribbons. Her style refuses to sit still. Some pieces are encrusted with individually placed Swarovski stones. Others have shells cut away with a dental drill to create tiny windows, with hand-painted paper flowers, dried kale, or even fungus tucked inside. Some are music boxes. Some are jewelry boxes. Her piece Night Sentinel features oak leaves made from lunch bags, a small detail that tells you exactly how Jill’s mind works.
“Most people have a specific type of egg,” she once said. “I’m known as the creative one because I don’t have a specific style.”
If there is a thread running through her work, it is animals. “Most of mine have to do with animals because that is my passion.”
A single egg can take her up to six months to complete.
Why this feels right at Dunn’s
There is something fitting about a Volusia County institution like Dunn’s Attic getting to share space with a Volusia County artist of Jill’s caliber. The Dunn family has been part of this community for 125 years and seven generations. From right here in Ormond Beach, Jill has quietly raised the bar for egg art for more than five decades. That kind of local talent deserves a spotlight, and we are honored to give it one.
If you have not seen her work in person, photos do not do it justice. The detail is the kind of thing you have to lean in close to fully appreciate. Stop by 136 W Granada Blvd and take a look.
As Jill herself put it, “The possibilities are limitless.”
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