Woman Sees Eggs As Art

WINONA LAKE - You won't catch Emma Fretz walking on eggshells - she's got far bigger plans.

Fretz, of Winona Lake, transforms ordinary eggs into intricate works of art, with delicate cut-outs, nifty pop-ups and tiny moving parts and music boxes replacing nature's insides.

For 20 years, Fretz has been busy with her eggs. "I've always been a crafty character all my life," she said. Fretz first became interested being an "egger" when her children were young, but realized she didn't have the time so she didn't develop her interest.

Then she attended an egg show in California in 1976, and that Christmas her husband, Walter, bought her a special cutting tool to start her hobby. She's been doing it now since 1977, and what began as a hobby has become a business for her.

Fretz has crafted between 6,500 and 7,000 eggs - "I've lost count," she admits - and keeps about 250 decorated eggs displayed throughout her home.

She began with chicken and goose eggs, but soon (after about two weeks) graduated to ostrich eggs. "I soon found out it wasn't as difficult as I thought," Fretz said. Her first ostrich egg creation was a brick house decorated for Christmas with a light-up fireplace inside and stockings bearing the names of her family adorning the mantel. It's still among her home collection.

What looks like an ordinary teapot on her own mantel is actually an ostrich egg with handle and spout added outside and dancing teddy bears inside that twirl to the tune "Love Makes the World Go 'Round." A smaller teapot, made from a goose egg, complements a matching chicken egg creamer and sugar bowl and pullet egg teacups.

Then there's the Noah's ark, a tri-level fold-out made from an ostrich egg, complete with animals two-by-two on the bottom two floors and eight beds to represent the number of people aboard the ark on the top floor. The exterior is carved and painted to look like wood.

One lighted egg shows several of the countries as depicted in Disney World's Small World ride - Fretz's favorite at the theme park - and it's also a music box playing, of course, "It's A Small World."

"They're little worlds of make-believe," Fretz says of her eggs.

There are Christmas eggs, eggs with flowery cut-outs, lamps made from eggs, wedding remembrance eggs, egg necklaces and Valentine-themed eggs that were gifts to her husband. But Fretz's all-around favorite is the golden ostrich egg made to commemorate the couple's 50th wedding anniversary. The ostrich egg opens up to reveal a rhea egg cradled inside a "basket" made from half of another rhea egg. The whole rhea egg is actually a tribute to Fretz's family - vertical slices are hinged together to form a string of picture frames with photographs of Fretz and her husband as children and adults, of their parents, and of their children and grandchildren at various stages in their lives.

Fretz talks animatedly about her eggs, rushing from one to the next like a child in a toy store. One of her eggs, in fact, is "Teddy's Toy Shop," with the proprietor's name, "Theodore D. Bear," on the door. The door opens, and the store's roof can be removed to reveal shelves full of miniature toys.

With as much energy as Fretz appears to possess, it's difficult to imagine that she can sit still long enough to complete one of her works of art. But Fretz said she generally works on the eggs from about 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. "on days when I don't have anything else to do."

With the variety Fretz offers, she said she never runs out of ideas, but she does run out of time.

When she's working, she does it in stages with about 10 eggs in progress at the same time. Her "egg room" contains a comfy-looking couch where the eggs are placed while awaiting their turn. She's also got her paints, brushes and various supplies needed to decorate and a lighted magnifying glass to better see the intricate details of some of her designs. The cutting process is done in another room to keep the dust off projects in the works, and emptying the eggs (especially rotten ones) is done outside.

Fretz gets many of her ostrich and swan eggs from a farm near Plymouth when the birds don't develop and drills holes in them to remove the insides. She gets rhea and emu eggs from a farm near Fort Wayne and double-yolk goose eggs (which are larger than regular goose eggs) from a hatchery in South Dakota. She also buys "blown" eggs (those with the insides already removed) while participating in egg shows in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

And if you see Fretz at one of the local grocery stores, you might find her checking out the condition of the large chicken eggs in the refrigerated bins there.

While a dozen chicken eggs can be purchased for less than a dollar, a swan egg costs about $20 - "unless they're rotten," Fretz notes.

The parts and pieces used to make the eggs can also become expensive. One particular egg, adorned with ribbons and beads, is bedecked with $50 worth of rhinestones.

Fretz shows her eggs throughout the year, taking about 100 of her designs with her each time to offer for sale. Prices vary from $10 for necklaces to $500 for some of the more ornate creations.

The public is invited to view Fretz's eggs at a show set to begin at 2 p.m. June 24 in the chapel at Grace Village Retirement Community.