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Egging selected as 'Artist of the Month'

"How do you do that?"

That is a phrase often heard by artists, as if creating something magical. But most artists have studied techniques and have done a lot of practicing to get to the place where they are today in their art.

That's the approach taken by Cindi Egging, who was selected as the "Artist of the Mont" for October by the Cheyenne County Art Guild.

Egging said she once thought of art as magical.

As a young child, she remembers watching with awe and delight as an unseen person brought a story to life with drawings at the exact same time it was being read by Captain Kangaroo.

She was mesmerized.

When Egging was 5 and hospitalized for ear surgery, she said a nurse showed her another mystery – that if you layered yellow crayon over red crayon, you could make a flesh color in the coloring book.

Both of these events impacted her interest in creating art. She said she also remembers studying cartoon drawings of people in newspapers and comic books and practicing their techniques.

In junior high, Egging was chosen to participate in the advanced art class and, from that point forward, she said she began to think of herself as an "artist."

She took all of the art classes available in high school and went on to major in art at Kearney State College.

There, she was able to create art in many different mediums. Drawing has always been her first love, so classes in printmaking and drawing were her favorites.

After college, she took many workshops – mostly at the Autumn Art Workshop in Halsey, Neb. – and became more proficient in watercolor, oil, colored pencil and pastel.

Her most recent adventure is in learning to "play" again with color and shapes by exploring abstract art, she said. Each medium has its own blessings and its own curses. One must learn to work within the parameters of each medium's limits.

Egging's work has won awards at both the local level (Annual CCAG Spring Show and Cheyenne County Fair) and state level (honorable mentions in the ANAC state show and Awards of Merit in the ANAC Traveling Show).

On the national level, one colored-pencil piece was chosen to be included in the Best of Colored Pencil 2, a book of hundreds of colored pencil works, submitted by artists for the national Colored Pencil Association's annual show.

She has taught workshops in colored pencil and have completed several commissioned works. Egging is also a member of the Cheyenne County Art Guild and the Association of Nebraska Art Clubs.

"I am always thinking about how I could draw or paint what I am seeing," Egging said. "That's the magic and joy of art for me. To create something that makes a connection with another person.

"At times, even I am able to be that mysterious person who brings a story or experience "to life," she added. "Who knows what other lessons I will learn as I continue to enjoy and practice making art?"

 

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