Deborah paints ostrich eggs
By Vici Papajohn Gulf Breeze News

Deborah Ellis has s t u m b l e d upon a wonderful hobby which doubles as a fundraiser for a very worthy local business. Deborah paints ostrich eggs!

Though some locals may overlook the Northwest Florida Zoo, formerly know as the Gulf Breeze Zoo, many out-oftowners and locals consider the local attraction a real gem.

Numerous families are season pass holders who cannot get enough of The Zoo, wearing out their passes to stay abreast of new babies, upgraded exhibits and old friends.

Nestled along winding paths of natural grounds and beautifully landscaped botanical gardens, the zoo encompasses over 50 acres of property. There are more than 900 animals in residence, and Deborah has painted many of the zoo's residents on large ostrich eggs, creating an exotic, custom-made collectable.

She got the idea when husband Jerry, a docent at the Zoo, was giving her a tour of the grounds, and she saw the ostrich eggs. Deborah thought the eggs would make a beautiful and unique palette for animal paintings, and the tradition began. Jerry brings home the unfertilized eggs, blows them clean, and Deborah paints the animals.

"At first it was hard to draw on the curved surface of the egg," Deborah explains. "The curve of the ostrich egg causes a perspective change and affects the way the animal looks."

But practice makes perfect, and Deborah has raised over $1,000 for the zoo, creating the painted eggs and donating them to the zoo gift shop.

"The docents make the zoo - volunteering their time and talents. They work with encounters, they help clean and maintain, they are so committed. I'm more of an inside person, an artistic person, and I saw this as a way I can contribute. The eggs have really caught on. Natalie (Aiken) loved them and priced them and they have sold. Now, I can hardly get one to the gift shop before it sells," she says with a characteristic giggle.

"I'm probably just like every other docent," explains Jerry. "I look forward to the time I spend at the zoo, and I truly enjoy knowing everything about what's going on." Jerry is one of 42 docent volunteers who work diligently, offering educational interface with the zoo visitors and leading animal encounters and lecturing. It's nice we can both be involved in the zoo and in Deborah's eggs."

"Each egg takes probably 5-8 hours total, going back to it again and again until it is finished. Some animals take longer to get them right!" Deborah says. When asked to name her favorite animal to paint, she says "Anything with fur!" Photos of the painted eggs include a lot of tigers, some wolves and even a little monkey. "She did not like painting that monkey," husband Jerry p i p e s i n . " T h a t was probably the hardest one to do."

D e b o r a h laughs and says "One of the most c h a l l e n g i n g things I've ever painted was that chimp face because it took forever to get him right - I wanted to capture something that was pretty and it just seemed ugly for a while. I kept saying 'only a mother could love a face like that! It really is more fun to paint the beautiful animals." Using acrylics and sharpies, Deborah makes money for the zoo and enjoys painting the eggs. "I just wanted something to do to help, something meaningful, and I'm glad I can use my talents." Sometimes, zoo guests or docents ask for a specific species to be painted, and the zoo will let Deborah know, but all sales go through and to the zoo.

"I usually use a photograph that Jerry takes at the zoo," she explains. "There are definitely some favorites there."

Occasionally Deborah will go in to the gift shop and paint, and she says kids ask the craziest questions like what happened to the baby ostrich? "I tell them there was not a a little baby in there. This is like the eggs in the grocery store. They never were fertilized and never will be."

"I think it is absolutely wonderful that Deborah and Jerry are so supportive of the Zoo," says Natalie Aiken, zoo Director of Marketing. "they can give so unselfishly of their time. Deborah is extremely talented and her eggs are absolutely beautiful -- she does amazing work. They are both absolutely dedicated and make such a difference for the zoo."

Deborah pours a lot of love and talent into painting the eggs, and she creates art pieces worthy of the zoo. She never paints the same one twice, and each collectible is truly one of a kind - just like her favorite zoo.

"We will be traveling some this year and will drop by zoos along the way. I think our zoo is a very unique place and you can walk around at your own pace or take a tour and learn a lot. The docents are there to educate and to provide interface. The animal care personnel just do not have enough time to spend a lot of time with the visitors, and they are caring for the animals," Deborah says with apparent pride. "There is no other zoo like our zoo."