Old, young mix it up at Egg Paint

As soon as the turquoise base coat had dried on her foam egg, Magali Herrera carefully painted multicolored zigzag patterns.

A few feet away, Carole Davis had a large grin on her face as she watched the 11-year-old girl perfecting her art at the Rodgers Seniors’ Center in Huntington Beach.

“Oh, look at that! That’s fantastic,” said Davis, who works at the senior center, as she waited for the paint on her own egg to dry. “I have to go copy some ideas from the kids.”

Dozens of older adults and about 30 students from Oak View Elementary School gathered Monday for the second annual Egg Paint organized by Lake Forest resident Jack Knight.

“I wanted to do an art program to get [the Oak View children] out of their neighborhood and mix them with general people,” Knight said. “These older folks tend to congregate down to the senior center by themselves, or in their own little group, so I just mixed the two groups together and wanted to see how it goes.”

After putting on the finishing touches, the students raced over to large fans in a corner of the room and held their eggs up to dry.

Davis, 58, attended last year’s event and was impressed. She said the egg painting gave her some time to talk with the younger set.

“I was expecting some beautiful girls, and I got them,” she said. “They’re just so sweet. Just look at the dimples here. I can’t even stand it.”

The young girls giggled at Davis’ compliments, and Magali said she liked spending time with the seniors.

On top of his annual egg-painting event for Easter, Knight, whose office is in Huntington Beach, said he hosts pumpkin paintings during the fall and additional art programs in Anaheim.

“It’s one thing for people to watch me paint, and it’s another for them to sit down and do something creative together, because it opens them up and then they start talking,” he said.

Sheri Foshee, 71, among the newest participants in the event, said she couldn’t wait to paint and chat with the students.

“It makes me feel younger to be around younger people, and it gives me more energy,” she said. “I just came out here to have a good time.”