Dungog by Design presents proud to present a collection of works by artist Frank Slip for the month of August.
Born in Dubbo NSW, Frank and his family settled in Dungog in1960, before moving to Old Bar Beach in the 1970s. It was here that Frank opened his gallery, ‘Wandjina’, which housed a museum, dealt in Aboriginal art, fossils, artifacts, Australian antiquities and his hand-carved emu eggs.
Frank discovered his talent for carving while boarding in Coonamble in 1945. The landlady, who used emu eggs in all her cooking, gave Frank some eggshells that he began scratching. Frank settled on using his Stanley knife, which gave him more control and better results when carving through the 8-12 layers of very fine, delicate eggshell.
Every fine, delicate layer of shell exposes a different colour, ranging from dark blue to bluey-green and creamy-white. A great deal of care, patience and artistic ability is required to achieve the designs.
Frank’s love of everything Australian is displayed in his designs that are primarily of Australian wildlife.
His works, which included many commissions, have been enthusiastically collected by both Australians and visitors to our shores.
By the time of his passing at age 92, Frank had carved over 1,000 emu eggs, some of them now being offered for sale by his daughter Leonie.
Dungog By Design, 224 Dowling St, Dungog
Open: Wednesday to Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday & Sunday 9am – 3pm.
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Information courtesy of Dungog By Design. Image supplied by Frank’s daughter Leonie, courtesy of Dungog by Design.