Thursday, March 18, 2010

This year's Pysanky Egg

Last year I took my first ever class in pysanky egg dyeing. I had a great time and learned some interesting things about the history and meaning of these eggs in the process.

(The egg I made last year is the back one with the red star.)

I was thrilled this class was being offered again (and this time my mom came with me)!

Working on a different design from last year I started drawing on the white egg first with pencil then with the wax "pen" called a kistka.


Then I dipped in yellow. The lines I waxed will resist the dye and stay white.


I added more wax to the areas I wanted to remain yellow and dipped in orange.


Now red


And for my final color I picked to dip my egg in blue

(I rinsed the egg between the red dye and dipping it into the blue to get a brighter blue color.)

Now for the best part- melting off all the layers of wax to reveal each color.


It's so rewarding because when the egg comes out of that final dye color is looks like a total mess. It's hard to believe that under the hours of wax and dye are these beautiful colors and delicate patterns... but there they are just waiting to be revealed!


Mom did really well with her first egg! Here she is waxing,


and melting the wax off with her candle


And mom's final egg


She liked so much that she'll be doing the class again with me next year, along with my sister and mother-in-law.


10 comments:

  1. Well I'll be.. I've seen Russian Eggs displayed before, but never knew how it was done. Thanks for this as it looks very lovely. Mom and you should be proud.

    with love,
    Olivia

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  2. Thanks Ladies. When I first saw the teachers examples they were so intimidating. But she broke it down to steps, once you once jump in and get started it's not as hard as it looks like it was when you're finished.

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  3. Wow everything about these pictures is familiar. I wonder if we've taken the same class? Mom and I did one about two years back, out at an herb farm & tearoom in SW Washington.

    Your eggs came out about 300% better than mine! Super impressed by the consistency of your lines.

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  4. So pretty, Meg! I was wondering if you were going to do this again this year!

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  5. Wow .. I've never seen this before. They look amazing!

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  6. I've seen these eggs before and have always wanted to try this. Yours turned out beautifully!

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  7. Thanks Ladies. I bought a kit (actually bought it last year after the 1st time I took the class) to try and make a few eggs on my own- maybe I'll get to that this year. But if anyone is interested in where to get materials here's the site that the teacher recommended

    http://www.ukrainiangiftshop.com

    You can also try local art/craft stores (not the big chains). The store around the corner has these kits- I picked one up there last year.

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  8. They're absolutely beautiful! I remember seeing your post last year and thinking I'd love to try this. Are they very fragile though? I'd be so upset if I produced something so pretty only to break it.

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  9. Thank you angeltreats. It's a whole uncooked egg so it's as fragile as a regular egg. The instructor said that the insides dry up over the years (about 4 years I guess). It was easy to work with... but you just don't want to drop it. : )

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