Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 30, 1995                   TAG: 9501310058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JANET CAGGIANO RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
DATELINE: RICHMOND (AP)                                 LENGTH: Medium

ARTIST'S EGG IS NO YOLK

A little gray cloud hung over John M. Barber's head when he was asked to paint the official Easter Egg for Virginia.

``There was this big question mark because that type of art is so unusual for me,'' Barber said.

The Henrico County artist specializes in maritime art, especially paintings of the Chesapeake Bay. An egg, he said, seemed to be out of his comfort zone.

Nevertheless, he gave it a try.

``It was a challenge,'' he said. ``I had to figure out how to translate my message of the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay to an egg.''

Barber met the challenge. His work was selected from more than a dozen entries to represent Virginia at the White House. Along with eggs from the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, Barber's work will be displayed in the East Wing during April.

Barber used acrylics to paint the 1607 arrival of the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery at Jamestown, site of the first permanent English settlement. Before painting the Grade A large egg, Barber drained the fluid from it.

``I think this is outstanding,'' said Cecilia Glembocki, executive director of the Virginia Egg Board. ``It exemplifies the history of Virginia.''

That the project, which took about 20 hours to complete, came out so well surprised Barber's wife, Kathy.

``Since he's never done anything like this, I didn't think it would be so magnificent,'' she said.

Although Barber grew up in landlocked Danville, he long has had a love of the water.

``My mother tells a tale of me as a child drawing a scene of a whale spouting water,'' said Barber, who owns the Barber Gallery on Grove Avenue.

``The [Chesapeake Bay] is just magic,'' he said. ``It's different than the ocean, which can be hostile.''

Because of his love for the water, Barber said, he had a difficult time painting the Easter egg.

``I wanted to find a pertinent way that the design on the egg could relate to my own interest,'' he said.

Barber's next project is another egg, this time for Gov. George Allen and his family. It will be displayed at the Capitol during National Egg Month this spring.