pysanky

Well, I've returned to Pysanky.

I was cleaning out a box of stuff (finally) when I came across a carton of my Ukrainian eggs. They re-inspired me to try the art again, and since all my dyes were still sitting on the shelf, I dove right in. 

My first egg was admittedly pretty horrible. But my second attempt came out well!

the bottom:

a side view:

 :)

Ukrainian eggs - history

Well, one last post! 

Here is a bit about the history of Pysanky.

Pysanky probably dates back to ancient times, though there are no eggs to prove this, due to the fragile nature of eggshells.

The art may have been most developed in Ukraine, but many of the people groups in Eastern Europe have at one time or other practiced decorating eggs.

As in many ancient cultures, Ukrainians worshiped a sun god, as the sun was their source of life. Eggs, decorated with symbols of nature became a key part of this worship and a symbol of the rebirth of earth after winter. These eggs were believed to have special powers.

Pysanky were an important part of life in Ukraine.The exchanging of Pysanky was symbolically giving a gift of life. The art was handed down through the generations, from mother to daughter. 

Each color and symbol had a deep meaning, which were taught to each generation. Most eggs were very geometric, divided into equal squares, triangles or other shapes. Eight sided stars were often used, as they represented the sun. Sometimes the eggs' decorations would include an unending line, which, as legends claimed, would trap any evil spirit that entered the house!

When Christianity was introduced, eggs become the symbol of man's rebirth, as well as signifying the tomb Christ rose from. Interestingly, many of the symbols used for worship of the sun god survived, and were altered to represent Easter and the Resurrection.

In more modern days, the practice was carried to the Americas by Ukrainian emigrants. Near the same time, Pysanky (as a religious practice) was banished from Ukraine by the Soviet regime, museum collections were destroyed in war and the ancient art was nearly forgotten.   However, since Ukraine's independence in 1991, the art has been rediscovered and practiced once again.

Ukrainian eggs

My kind sister used her amazing photography skills,
(see her blog here for even more amazing photos)
to take pics of my eggs!

Here they all are:

~

Now separately, in order of creation:

 This was my first one...

...which after making, I startled my family greatly by skipping through the house exclaiming how well the kistky worked.

:P

 ~

Next, a bird on one side...

And a flower on the other.

And yes, the leaves are blue.

*sigh*

Still learning...

;)

~

Then I decided to make an untraditional egg.

Traditional eggs mostly have geometric patterns, very even and uniform.

Untraditional eggs are...

ungeometric.

:P

So I made a peacock, 

 with it's tail flowing almost all the way around the egg.

I like the effect..

~

Then we have a very traditional egg.

An eight pointed star, which symbolizes the sun.

Actually, I didn't know that until after I made the egg. 

:P

~

Lastly, my latest egg.

I liked the way this one turned out. 

By now most of the lines are looking fairly straight!

~

And here are the eggs all together.

Well, five is all the eggs I have made so far, but I'm pretty sure I will make some more when I get time.

Phew.

Quite a few photos.

 Of course, I had around 70 pics, just of the finished eggs to sort through. 

:P

I'll do one more post on Ukrainian egg/Pysanky history sometime soon!

Ukrainian eggs - wax & kistky

Now on to the actual process.

First you need eggs.

Blown.

That is the part I like least...

:P

Takes a long time. 

After you have an empty, clean, dry eggshell, you can really start.

I draw lines dividing my eggs into eights, usually, and work from that.

 

After you have a design you like sketched onto the egg, you use the kistka 

(which is heated over a candle)

to coat with wax any areas you want left white.

 

 I was thrilled with how well store bought kistky work compared to homemade.

They draw MUCH thinner, smoother lines, and almost never drip wax.

I got my kit here.

Kistky are hard to use in that you hold them differently than you hold pencils, since the tip is pointing downward, not straight.

After coating certain areas, you dip the egg into the lightest dye you are using.

In my case, this was yellow.

When your egg is blown, you have to continually press it down into the dye, otherwise it would bob to the top, and dye only the bottom bit of the egg.

Thus, my brightly colored fingers.

 (sorry, no photos...:P)

I was awfully worried my fingers would be black for the concert last week...

Thankfully the dye came off just in time. With much scrubbing.

Anyway.

Take the egg out of the dye when you like the color.

Keep in mind, that (at least in my case,) the dye is lighter after/if you pat it dry.

Pat the egg dry.

If you want.

You can also let it dry by itself, if you aren't in a rush.

I was.

;P

 

Then cover the areas you want yellow with wax.

Dip it into the next color.

Red.

  Leave it in until you like the shade of red.

I found that the order of colors is basically:

-Yellow

-Light Green

-Light Blue

-Turquoise

-Orange

-Pink

-Scarlet

-Red

-Brown

-Brick

-Dark Red

Then the final colors are:

Black, Purple, Royal Blue, and Dark Green.

Ok. Not so basic.

Continue covering areas with wax and dyeing until you are happy.

Then, the really fun part is taking an old rag and a hair drier and melting and wiping off all the wax!

My favorite part.

:)

I wasn't quite pleased with my first eggs, as I forgot the order the colors should go in.

I dipped one egg into green, and forgot the yellow.

Then I tried to dye yellow on top of the green.

:/

Thus I found that there really is a reason you have to dye in order of color.

:P

Next post I'll just show you some pics of the eggs themselves.

(sorry this took so long to post...)

Ukrainian eggs - dye

I have started the eggs.
:)
First I'll post about making the dyes.
Because that proved to be a more difficult and time consuming task than I first thought.

I had an extra half hour, so I decided to make up the egg dyes.
Dyes take longer than half an hour to make.
Let me get that point across first. ;P

However, I didn't know this.

So I dived in.

I started to boil some water when I realized I needed distilled water.
No big deal.
I hired my little brother to run to a sari-sari store for some water.

Then I realized that the dye was going to be a tight fit in the containers I had.
I tried it anyway.
Thankfully the dye all fit.
:P
However, some splashed on the counter.
This is strong dye. Not food color dye.
STRONG.
*gulp*
Actually it wiped off alright.
(water soluble)

Nevertheless, I moved to the back sink.

I boiled, measured, poured, and made sure not to dye myself.
Despite precautions I did have greenish blue fingers for a while after...

Finally, all twelve dyes were made, and safely stored with the lids on tight.

Phew.

I stopped several times, for lunch, music, and homework.
And it took much more than half an hour.

Next I'll post about the actual eggs!

summer projects

Happy Summer Vacation! 

(for me, anyway...;D ) 

Well, I am trying to be productive with my time this vacation, 

so,

instead of sitting in front of the computer for hours, I am devoting myself to hours of crafts!

Here is my first of 

(hopefully,)

many projects!

Remember those doodled eggs I made awhile ago..

Oh.

I forgot that I haven't posted about those.

Hm.

*rewind* 

Several months ago, I saw this blog post.

Ah...

I grabbed my pen, and began to doodle. 

And you know what? 

They turned out pretty well!

*clears throat* 

At least, the flower ones did. 

I learned from the paisley eggs, that thicker tipped pens work best. 

And that you really DON'T want to draw your design on first in pencil.

AND that the simpler the design is, the better it works.

Anyway. 

Today I was sitting at the table, my watercolors strewn over it.

I glanced over at the eggs, and realized the flower pattern would look really neat in color on paper. 

So I tried it.

1. Sketch flowers all over paper.

Caution:  Fingers may grow cramped.

 2. Add leaves. 

If fingers are not already cramped, you will most likely experience that now.

If so, stop for cookies. ;P

3. After your paper is covered in black sketches, pull out your watercolors.

4. Choose colors.

Confession: Actually, I didn't choose my colors first, I just dove in. Later I found the ones I used, and took a picture of them... ;P

 5. Paint! 

6. And lastly, go over the whole thing in black pen.

Yes. 

Again.

  And voila!

(is that how you spell it?)

 You have a fun piece of summery art! 

 :(

our scanner was not nice to the colors...

*shakes fist at scanner*

:P 

Hope you have a great summer!

Ukrainian eggs

*clears throat*

Well, I'm back again.

Let us not look at the date...

I have a NEW hobby!!

Surprise.
*sarcasm*

Ukrainian Easter Eggs!
or Pysanky, for any Ukrainian natives...
(finally, a craft in time for a holiday!)

Please don't ask how I came to try it.

I have no clue.

Anyway,I found an inspiring website here.

I realized to my dismay that several essential items are required for this beautiful craft.

-A kistka
-Pysanky Dyes
-Beeswax

The kistka is a tool used to apply wax onto the egg.

How to MAKE one....

I googled.

But alas, no instructions for a kistka...
I did find website explaining that a pin will work just as well.

Hm...

Pins don't work.

Don't even bother trying.

I had to make my own kistka.

After a frantic several minutes of digging around, I found a tip of an old pen.

Perfect.

To finish of the homemade kistka, I twisted a strip of tinfoil into a handle.


Now, just hope it doesn't melt...


I used some hardened waxed to fill the kistka, and dived in.

After patiently running the kistka over the egg design,
(which I simplified drastically as time progressed...)

I came up with this:

I'll admit,
not what I was going for.

Despite that, I was thrilled.
I had made a kistka that actually drew wax onto an egg!

Time for the first dye bath.

Now what to use for dye...

I fell back on the faithful food dye option.

For my first egg I had only two colors:

Green and Blue.

First into the green, for a great rule in Pysanky is:

"dye from lightest to darkest"

Then the tedious process of waxing all areas of the egg that are destined to be green in the final design.

Then into the blue dye bath.

Next I scraped off all the wax and TA DA!

A genuine Ukrainian Easter egg using NONE of those hard-to-find items required!

The last one on the left is my first egg.

As the line progresses the eggs are more recent, so that the one on the right I made just today.

As I made the next eggs, I found several helpful bits of advice.

Such as:

Raw eggs are suggested for Pysanky, but I found that a blown egg works best for me,
for several reasons, the top being that when I blew the first egg after it was dry, the dye ran... :C

Prick a hole on both the top and bottom of a clean egg.

Then blow through one end and watch in amazement as the egg streams out the opposite hole.

also,

when I had finished my most beautiful egg and was scraping off the wax, tragically, the egg shell cracked.

Yes, I should have known that could happen.

But it was devastating all the same.

My next egg,
(with a similar design)

I used a blow drier to melt all the wax off. It is much faster and safer to the eggshell.

I have now grown much more proficient with my rough, homemade kistka and some lines actully turn out looking straight!

I have greatly enjoyed creating the eggs, and (joy of joys!) I am getting a real kistka, beeswax and Pysanky dyes for an art class in school next year!

Ah....

can't wait till next year.
;P