Why I paint fried eggs: A Sheffield artist’s unusual art

The egg painting quickly sold to someone local, Mr Halksworth said, but requests to buy it kept coming in.

Miss Haigh suggested that he simply painted another one and offered to fry an egg for him to use as the subject.

Now, four years on, he has painted 615 variations of a fried egg, some split, some peppered, double yolked, big, small or in a skillet.

After he has finished using them for inspiration, the couple and their dog Sid eat the eggs.

“We have eggs for brunch a couple of times a week – usually with avocado or spinach on toast – and will take a few reference pictures as soon as they’re fried before eating them,” Mr Halksworth said.

“Sid usually hovers around the pan looking expectant, so he has a little dog chew so he’s not left out.”