In a fitting tribute to spring, Sher Elegance, the decorated egg collection created by local artist Sher Laurence, will be on display at the Clayton Museum beginning March 28.

Laurence began decorating eggs more than 20 years ago when her daughter was taking gymnastics in Vallejo. Practice would last sometimes four hours and she began painting wooden eggs in the car while waiting. “It wasn’t enough time to come home and go back again, and I couldn’t stand just sitting there doing nothing.”

Inspired by the Fabergé eggs created for the Imperial family of Czar Alexander III, each of Laurence’s creations begins with a single item that catches her eye--a blue glass bowl turned upside that might make a lovely base or a vintage rhinestone necklace found in a thrift store. Then, she begins to assemble things that go together – a set of crystal beads, a feather, perhaps a tiny bird or some gold braid from an old lampshade – and soon she has a vision. She chooses an eggshell – emu and ostrich shells are favorites – and goes to work, taking weeks, months, sometimes a year to complete a single egg.

Every egg has a “surprise” at the center. There might be music, special lighting or another egg. Often, it’s one of her mother Varine Horton’s handmade porcelain dolls.

Laurence is always on the lookout for things to use in decorating her eggs. Thrift stores, garage sales and even the recycle bin can yield decorating riches. What might be junk to one can be a bonanza to Laurence. “I have old jewelry coming out my ears,” she says. “I see possibilities in everything.” “Friends bring me stuff all the time.” In the refrigerator is a goose egg from a neighbor up the road. “It’s a perfect shell, but, I have to eat the egg first,” she laughs.

Art has been at the core of Laurence’s life since childhood when she would sit on the bed and paint. “I’d get paint all over my bedspread,” she says with a chuckle.

Several years as a manicurist introduced her to the dremel, a rotary tool that led her into sculpture. All of her skills come into play in eggery, she notes. “It’s been a long process trying to figure out how to do it.”

The museum exhibit will be the first time Laurence’s eggs have been on display. “I’m really excited to have people learn more about the art,” she says.

The exhibit will include several framed canvas prints of her Fabergé inspired eggs. The prints will be raffled off to raise money for the Historical Society.

The exhibit begins March 28 and runs through May 24. The museum is open Wednesdays and Sundays from 2-4 p.m. and will be open Easter Sunday.

The museum is at 1601 Main St. in downtown Clayton.