>> Everything is "eggceptional," or "eggtraordinary." >> Kathleen Mand Beck can list egg puns by the dozen. >> I think I've heard every "eggciting," and "eggstravagant," and every egg word there is possible. >> When you're the "Egg Lady from Egg Harbor" >> This is our egg museum. They're all numbered and all catalogued. >> It comes with the territory. >> Oh, I'm used to them, but I laugh, you know. And I usually say, "Oh, I've never heard that." >> Egg puns aside, there is little about eggs Kathleen doesn't know. >> The egg is the gift of life, the sign of friendship and love and new beginnings. Even holding an egg in your hand feels wonderful.
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>> Kathleen uses a dentist's drill to carve eggs. While it may be hard on the ears, the result is easy on the eyes. >> It's total play time for me. I just, when I get my drill in my hand, it's like a painter getting her paintbrush, I think. It's just, what can I do, what can I create. >> Kathleen's start in egg carving was an accident. She used to work with stained glass. >> I ended up with a personal injury to my right arm, and had to have three surgeries. >> With limited strength in her hand, she needed a new medium for her art. >> I lived in the country so I went to my nearest farmer, and I got some eggs and cleaned them out, and started carving them. And I found out that it was a really an interesting surface to carve on. >> The next accident of fate came on a trip to Door County. >> I had been carving eggshells as a hobby and had my a-ha moment of my life, and realized that there were no eggs in Egg Harbor, except at the market. I saw this building and it was, it was a terrible mess. I looked at it and I said, this is it, I have to be here. This has gotta be my home. I am the kind of a person who gets an idea, and then I jump in with two feet into the mud puddle, and then figure out how to get out of it. I never worked in an art gallery before. I don't know what possessed me to think that I could do it. I started out personalizing the eggs, so I put names and dates on them for anniversaries, and babies, and birthdays. >> Soon she was making complex sculptures out of eggshells. >> This is my lighthouse of Door County, down in Sturgeon Bay. >> Then she went worldwide. >> This is where my eggs have gone. Indonesia, New Zealand, and South Africa. >> Along the way, people started bringing her eggs. >> We now have over 500 eggs in our collection. They are from all over the world. There are antique eggs, and wood eggs, and marble eggs, and carved eggs, and painted eggs. >> Early on, Kathleen set what she thought was a lofty goal for her collection. >> To have the essence of the egg world in Egg Harbor would be to have three things. It would be to have a prehistoric egg, a wild bird egg collection, and a Faberge. >> Hi. >> Welcome to Dovetail. >> One by one, people came into her shop and told her about eggs that were sitting in attics, or boxes, or a safe. >> It's an Easter egg. It's not the Imperial eggs that were made for the Czar's wife and mother, so it's quite valuable, but not nearly as valuable as those. >> Yes, it is real. It is really 70 million years old. It is truly a fossil. One of the great things about this egg, is not only that it's that old, but it's also that it's a whole egg, because many, many of the fossils are broken. The wild bird egg collection is all down here. >> In theory, the wild bird egg collection would be the easiest to get, but Kathleen needed a federal permit to take possession of an old collection. >> By the grace of God, we got our letter that we got our permit from the federal government. >> For most people, eggs and art only go together on Easter. >> Eggs are for all seasons. They're not just for Easter. I love to dye eggs. They dye beautifully. This was dyed with coffee and tea. Here's a whole box of dyed eggs. These are my Easter eggs. >> For Kathleen, there's something magical about holding an egg, from the tiniest-- >> That's a little finch egg. >> To the biggest. >> I get excited. Eggs! I'm sorry, but I do! I love it. It's where my heart is. Right here in Egg Harbor.
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I know it's such a pun, but it's the truth!
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