Why I paint fried eggs: the story of my extraordinary art

An artist who creates realistic oil paintings of eggs being fried by his partner for brunch has so far sold more than 600 pieces.

When Daniel Halksworth first started painting food, he didn’t expect he’d be making yolks for a living.

The 43-year-old, who lives in Sheffield but is originally from Chesterfield, has amassed 41,000 followers on social media thanks to his designs.

His work now graces the walls of egg lovers everywhere and was even featured in Hellmann’s 2024 Super Bowl commercial.

Although Mr. Halksworth had been involved in art for most of his life, it was an old painting he painted in his parents’ home that completely changed the trajectory of his career.

One day he decided to paint a series of everyday objects, including shoes, a bathroom tap, a frozen roll and a fried egg.

He started selling his art during lockdown after his girlfriend Caz Haigh lost her job in retail.

“The opportunities for me to display or sell in stores have disappeared,” Halksworth said.

“She sold a lot of her clothes to help pay the rent, and I put my art on the Internet.”

Halksworth said the egg painting was quickly sold to a local owner, but requests to purchase it continued to come in.

Miss Haigh suggested he just paint another one and offered to fry him an egg as a subject.

Now, four years later, he has painted 615 varieties of fried eggs, some split, some peppered, double yolked, large, small or pan-ed.

Once he’s done using them as inspiration, the couple and their dog Sid eat the eggs.

“We eat eggs for brunch a few times a week – usually with avocado or spinach on toast – and right after frying, we take a few reference photos before we eat them,” Halksworth said.

“Sid usually hangs around the pan and looks expectant, so he bites the dog a little so he doesn’t get left out.”

According to an “egg map” his girlfriend created, his works, which are usually released in batches on Fridays, have been shipped to 30 different countries.

The proud owners include several celebrities and, to Mr. Halksworth’s amusement, a person who lives on Bacon Street and a person named Egg.

Earlier this year, one of his creations was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for the Hellmann mayonnaise brand with actress and comedian Kate McKinnon and Mayo Cat.

Halksworth also paints other food-related items, but his fried eggs are by far the most popular.

“I’ve found that people are very particular about eggs – some people like them crispy, some like them smooth,” Halksworth said.

“Avocado also became very popular as a side dish at one point.”

Despite painting hundreds of fried eggs, Halksworth said he has not lost his enthusiasm for the subject.

“I still enjoy it as much as I always have,” he said.

“Every time I paint an egg, I feel like I’m painting the first egg all over again.”

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