Pysanky - An Art from Ukraine

Pysanky is a Ukranian folk art of egg decorating. The history of this art dates back to thousands of years when the Ukranians painted on raw egg using beeswax. Each design is drawn with the wax and then dipped in a dye bath before drawing another design to preserve the previous color. By repeating this process with different colors of dye, a multi-colored pattern is achieved. Finally, the wax is very carefully removed by melting each layer with a candle to expose the colors that were covered up at each stage. This decorated egg is usually given away as gifts during Easter and is believed to bring fertility to the home.

Wooden, Glass and Ceramic eggs are in fashion as it is much easier to paint and preserve it. But I did mine the traditional old-fashioned way as I wanted to keep it authentic.

About my work of art :

I bought the kit online from one of the two stores that sell these kits in the entire country !! I used raw chicken eggs. Emptied, cleaned and dried them before using. One can use duck eggs or even Ostrich eggs. The kit comes with a simple instructions/design page, beeswax with wax holder (called Kystka) and dyes. It was very challenging to draw on egg. Especially because a mistake cannot be fully rectified here as wax leaves a mark and a little too much pressure while drawing/dyeing can end up with a crack in the egg shell. Even a hairline crack can leak the dye and ruin the entire work. Remember no paint or brush is used in this technique which makes it more exciting. It took me a complete 8 hour sitting at a stretch to do one egg and I was so pleased with the outcome.