MEET LEE ZINSFR
Decorating Eggs Isn't Just An
BY SUSAN USHER
Eggs arc Easter. Hardboilcd and dipped in dye.
Blown and painted. Rolled on the lawn or tucked away
in sccrct placcs only to be found by a determined two
year-old clutching a basket filled with shredded green
plastic grass.
In their oblong shells meet the religious and season
al symbolism of a new beginning.
But for Lee Zinser of Sunset Beach, decorating eggs
is a passion not limited to the Easter season. She and
hci husband, Richard, retirees, moved here from
Rockland County, New York last April, after searching
for a retirement spot first in the mountains, then along
the coast. Richard had golfed along the Grand Strand
for years. Today, with their back deck overlooking the
greens at Sea Trail Plantation, Lec is learning to play as
well, as a way to make new friends.
Sincc arriving here she's not had much time to pur
sue her hobby as an cggcur, between settling into a new
home and community and helping care for her 85-year
old mother, Frieda Busscmcr. who shares the Zinser
home.
But ideas for new shells flit through her mind and
empty shells, miniature figures, and bits of ribbon and
lace await her attention in the workroom. One day soon,
Lee says, she'll begin again.
A curio cabinet in the Zinser home opens to lighted
shelves filled with intricate eggs, no two alike and each
telling a story.
All arc the products of domesticated birds; egg
craftcrs are not allowed to use the eggs of wild birds
r
STAFF PHOTOS BY SUSAN USHER
LEE Z1NSER of Sea Trail Plantation takes empty egg shells and transforms them into works of art
like this two egg, one room schoolhouse that's usually a hit with children.
such as bluebirds. The diversity of egg colors and sizes
still varies from the thick grapefruit-like shells of the
ostrich to the jelly bean-size egg of the parakeet.
Some of the eggs displayed capture important fami
ly memories ? a replica of a son's ever-present Teddy
bear tucked inside in a tiny pullet egg, a daughter's
wedding entourage recreated in precise detail behind
the double-cut doors of a scalloped ostrich shell.
Eleven of the 12 months of the calendar have their
place, as do most holidays.
Easter and springtime are popular themes. A saucy
goose with a bonnet perched on her head stands against
a floral backdrop inside a heavily beaded goose egg,
while in another a hatching biddy catches an Easter
bunny by surprise as he hides a cache of eggs.
Most of all the eggs reflect their maker's style and
personality ? her positive outlook, calming presence
and petitcness.
Lee Zinser's own favorite is a pastoral scene with a
tiny flock of geese grazing in a meadow beneath a large
hardwood tree on a sunny country morning. A music
box tinkles "It's A Small World".
"I guess it's because these arc the smallest figures
I've found," she said.
A delicate hair net sprayed in gold covers an egg
that captures memories of a Florida vacation. The net
resembles both filigree and fishing net, setting the stage
M ? / a i \
/4 SA UCY GOOSE inside a goose egg sports an
Easter bonnet in this study in pastels.
NOW VOUR AD CAN REACH
NORTH CAROLINA
ONLY
$6 each additional word
OVER 120 NEWSPAPERS
(For more information, call this newspaper or...)
SIMPLY FILL- OUT THIS FORM
AND SEND WITH YOUR CHECK.
(No Rhone Orders. Larger order forms are available from
this newspaper.)
Nam?
Address
Advertising Copy:
Zip_
25 Words $G each additional word over 25.
Word count: Telephone numbers (Including area code) equal one
word. Post office box numbers as two words, box numbers and
route numbers as two words. The name of the city, state and zip
code oach count as one word. Other customary words count as one.
SEND TO:
THE BRUNSWICK^^BEACON
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING DEPT.
R.O. BOX 2558. SHALLOTTE, NC 28459
<91 9)754-6890
for the collcction of miniature shells inside that includes
a tiny sea horse and star fish.
Children arc drawn to her one double-egg creation,
an old-fashioned schoolhouse with pine cone chips on
the roof, slate walk, a schoolmarm and a straggling stu
dent reminescent of Lee's son as a child. A school bell
hangs inside a smaller egg set atop the large egg.
Lee's fascination with egg decoration began years
ago in New York State, when she saw a beautifully dec
orated egg with a "Not For Sale" sign on it.
An experienced crafter and seamstress who made
the window treatments for her new home here, Mrs.
Zinscr didn't hesitate.
"I thought, 'It couldn't be that hard to do,"' she re
called. "I went home and raided the refrigerator and
took my manicure scissors and started cutting.
"Three hours later I was still culling. It's harder than
it looks."
These days Mrs. Zinscr uses a dremal tool ? similar
to a dentist's drill ? to cut her shells, and makes good
use of the dulled but tough diamond bits provided by
her former dentist.
While creativity is important, most of all the art of
the "cggcur" or egg crafter requires patience, which Lee
Zinser says she has plenty of "with anything that
doesn't talk back."
As an cggcur, Lee employs all the craft skills she's
Easter Project For Her
> learned in the past. "It all comes in handy," she said.
She routinely draws on her past hobbies of doll
house building, decoupage. beadwork, quilting and oth
er forms of needlework. She picks up miniatures at doll
and model railroading shows, and diamond dust, sculpy
clay and other essentials at craft shows.
Her schoolmarm was fashioned from half of a cot
ton swap. Lee also sewed the doll's dress and crochctcd
her hair. For a Halloween scene she wanted a jack-o
lantcm thai would light up, but couldn't find one. She
made her own, using sculpy clay.
Birthday cards, playing cards ? she saves any type
of card with pictures that arc suitable as backgrounds or
"window" scenes.
"1 just keep my eyes open as I go from place to
place," she said. "We save everything. Nothing's
thrown out. My husband will attest to that."
Sometimes a particular card scene or figurine in
spires an entire egg scene; other times a shell may go
unfinished as she looks for just the right piece. A "gar
den gate" on an unfinished egg in her workshop un
folds, for example, to reveal an English country cottage
r surrounded by (lowers. But so far the right figure hasn't
come along.
. In the beginning, if someone liked an egg, it was
theirs. Later, Mrs. Zinscr began selling her eggs at craft
f fairs and also teaching egg decoration.
Today she decorates eggs simply for the creative
^ outlet and pleasure the hobby provides.
"If you have 12 people in a group and you give each
} of them an egg and they have the same materials avail
| able," she says, "evvry egg will be different."
A
AN EGG WITHIN AN EGG offers a double
surprise. This elegant jewel box egg opens to re
veal a fragile, handpainted pullet egg pendant.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO
THE BRUNSWICK # BEACON
POST OFFICE BOX 2558
SHALLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 28459
NOTICE: Reliable or consistent delivery cannot be
guaranteed since this newspaper must rely on the U.S.
Postal Service for delivery. We can only guarantee that
your newspaper wilt be submitted to the post office in
Shallotte on Wednesday of the week of publication, in
time for dispatch to out-of-town addresses thatday.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL:
Sr. Citizen
In Brunswick County
N.C. Sales Tax
Postage Charge
TOTAL
?6.30
.32
3.68
10.30
?5.30
.27
3.68
9.25
Elsewhere in North Carolina
N.C. Sales Tax
Postage Charge
TOTAL
?6.30
.32
8.18
14.80
?5.30
.27
8.18
13.75
Outside North Carolina
Postage Charge
TOTAL
?6.30
9.65
15.95
?5.30
9.65
14.95
Complete And Return To Above Address
Name
Address ...
City, State
Zip