Razor Bill, (Alca torda), circa 1899

Photographic digital print on cotton rag (edition of 5) of a Razor Bill egg, a North Atlantic seabird egg dating back to the late 1800s in England. The eggs form part of the artist’s egg collection that was created by her great great grandfather 120 years ago. This family heirloom has been the source of artistic inspiration for both Ginny and her mother, who painted them over her lifetime. The artist sees the eggs as metaphors for fragility, strength and individuality. The Razorbill nests in cliffside colonies overlooking the ocean and uses its sharp, hatchet-shaped bill to catch fish underwater, sometimes diving to 330 feet below the ocean. Chicks leave the nest before they even have flight feathers, jumping from their cliff ledges into the water far below.