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I hate to be the one to interrupt my mom's various series that you are all engrossed in. But I have had requests for posting pictures of the wedding gifts I made last summer for my siblings.
And, the truth is, that they're more seasonally appropriate now than they were in the summer, because they're an Easter craft that one usually would produce during the season of Lent. Anyone out there heard of Pysanky?
{If you have, and you are an expert and a purist, please don't judge me for what will follow.}
Part of the collection we have amassed as a family over many years.
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I needed to work up to that tradition of giving them away. After a lot of mental preparation, I made one for a friend on her wedding — but didn't think it was good enough to give. A few years later, I took the leap and designed one for a coworker on the occasion of his daughter's birth.
I have preparatory process for any pysanky I do, but these particular eggs I needed to get just right. The first phase is always a sketch in two dimensions. This is the egg for Rosie and Philip. My inspiration is from Rosie's wedding: the colors she chose and her signature flower, lavender.
Now, I had never worked with anything but a standard chicken egg before. There are so many variables in pysanky… it can be daunting.
How will the shell take the dye (this varies, literally, with every single egg)? I have to be very patient and take my time once I get to sketching directly on the shell.
How will a goose eggshell take pencil markings? I'm not going to stain the white, am I? (No way to tell but to try!)
To begin, I did an entire regular-sized pysanka to test colors and design ideas. This helped me develop the sketch phase of my full-sized project. (It's also a great opportunity to get a few mistakes out of my system.)
One has to think through a design carefully, step by step. The process goes from light colors to dark colors, and there's only one shot per color. Decide at the end that you want some more white detail? Too late – you had only one chance at the very beginning!
Here it looks like I've drawn in black pen over my pencil sketch. But what you're seeing is actually black wax applied (hot) using the tools you see in the foreground. That wax is sealing on a layer of white that will show up at the end when I melt all the wax away.
Here's the egg a few steps later. I've dipped the egg in yellow dye, written over it with wax, and now I'm moving on to this pale orange. I put my layer of wax on to this color to seal on some designs in orange. I'm “writing” the design onto the egg.
Here comes the red layer… It's a very time consuming craft. Each color/layer of wax takes anywhere between 1 and 3+ hours to complete. It takes a lot of focus and careful control. There's no erasing in this system: once the wax touches the egg, it seals on that color for good – once a stroke is on it's on forever!
Amy says
Beautiful work!I learned (well, still learning)the art of pysanky a couple of years ago. I don't have an artistic bone in my body but I can do this!
Freckled Hen says
Wow! That's amazing! They turned out beautiful, such treasured gifts. You should be proud!
Rachel says
I have never heard about this and I enjoyed reading about your process. Thank you for sharing such detailed about your craft!
Barb says
Wow, I learned so much about the process from an artistic point of view. Your description of how you work reminds me so much of what I've read about creating icons.Thank you so much for sharing!
Sophie Miriam says
I have one comment:o.O Beautiful.That is all.
Jan says
Beautiful, just beautiful!
Rosie says
We felt downright honored to receive our beautiful wedding pysanky (or would it be pysanka? I think I learned that from this post). Our egg is definitely one of our treasures – packed up VERY carefully in storage during all this moving, but going in a special place once we get settled! (and then you can come visit it in California, Deirdre!)This really is an Easter craft that kids can do as well – their eggs won't look like Deirdre's (at least for a while… mine certainly still don't!), but you'll be surprised at how well they come out! The dyes are so much richer than most of the Easter egg kit dyes out there, and the results are always rewarding.
Sue says
Absolutely fascinating and beautiful!! That doesn't look like a craft one could delve into easily with a sticky-handed toddler around. Maybe in a few years I'll buy myself a kit and give it a try!
Ana says
Deirdre, those are gorgeous eggs. Where do you get the dyes/kits from? Hope all is going well with you!!
Anonymous says
'Interrupt' any old time you desire Deidre. Thanks for sharing this lovely craft and your beautiful results. What a lot of effort but I'm sure a very treasured and appreciated gift by the recipients. Excellent job. Linda
Leila says
I'll chime in here and tell you that we started this craft probably when Deirdre was a baby, so, yes, about 20 years ago! The Chief's mother and my mother went to a class, and true to my mother's nature, all the supplies were brought home to be introduced to the kids.{There is not a craft or material that isn't in my closet (a peek in the last post — just one small portion of the vast stock we have). Habou firmly believes that anyone can do any craft or art form and should get started right away.}So yes, this was all done, for the most part, in the quite small kitchen where we used to live, with toddlers racing around, WHILE I was trying to make all the foods we traditionally have at Easter.The strategy is to get the older kids going and to set up the younger kids with, according to their ability and interest, 1) homemade playdough 2)regular Easter egg dye and hard-boiled eggs (Deirdre did mention that the Pysanky eggs have their innards painstakingly blown out, right?) 3) a very simplified version of Pysanky or 3) Easter egg coloring pages.You commit about 1/2 hour to hovering over them until they lose interest and need something to eat or a nap. You expect the older kids to wing it.Don't be intimidated. The picture above displays only the nicer eggs. We have oodles of really terrible ones too, specially made by your favorite 3 year old. Camouflage eggs. Ninja eggs. Jackson Pollack eggs.Sometimes they break as you're putting them away…sad.
Lori says
Wow! What stunning pieces of art!
Habou says
This is a great post, Deirdre. All of your eggs are very beautiful. You have taken what your grandma, Mary, and I taught all our grandchildren (when you were just a wee little one)and ran with it. As you usually do.Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.Love,Habou
Charlotte (Matilda) says
Really beautiful! You are an amazing artist!
Betsy says
Wow, so beautiful! I had seen those before but had no idea how they would be made. Thanks!
Margo says
Fascinating! I learned so much – thanks for all the detail and the photos. You are very talented. I also love that you are praying for the recipient as you make it. How special for them and you.
Pippajo says
What a beautiful tradition as well as beautiful works of art! I would LOVE to get my kids started on something like this! Thank you so much for sharing it.
gilliankirby says
They are stunning! Thank you for sharing the process with us. It's fascinating to see all the stages.I'm sure they will be well received gifts.
Kristen Laurence says
My mother makes these! She made me a fertility egg years ago before we adopted our first daughter. One day I hope to try them. Yours are beautiful!
Alice says
Miss Deirdre:They are, as always, beautiful. And I just want to pipe in as someone else who learned how to do this as a child… it is certainly possible to do with kids!Now I am inspired to start up again. Unfortunately, I think I'm supposed to be quilting. There's some big event in my life this coming June for which I planned to give some guy a quilt. "Husband-to-be" or someone like that.
Jensamom23 says
Oh my goodness! These are stunning!
Anne R Triolo says
Thanks for sharing Deirdre! I love to watch the progress of the eggs as the wax goes on and then comes back off. Thanks for taking such great pictures as you went!
Lorraine says
Deirdre–these are beautiful! I still have mine that you finished for me–I love the picture from Little Gidding.
Sue says
Leila's comment encouraged me so much! Maybe we will go ahead and give it a try after all. I know that my daughter would love to try it. Off to google "pysanky kits"!
Heather says
That is so beautiful. I have been telling people that making pisanki was almost like iconography, in that prayer goes into the work. I'm so glad that you shared that thought as well.
Deirdre says
Thanks, everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed and you're not too upset with me for going off-topic from my mom's thoughts. In the past, I have done some shopping from Polish Art Center online. Here is a link to their pysanky kits: <a href="http://www.polartcenter.com/Egg_Decorating_Kits_Pisanki_Pysanky_s/101.htmhttp://www.polartcenter.com/Egg_Decorating_Kits_P… />I normally shop at http://www.babasbeeswax.com/ for individual supplies (when I need to re-stock on wax, when I want to purchase egg stands, etc.). They're good for more advanced needs. They also have kits you can check out. The basic kit you will find everywhere will be pretty much the same. They won't tell you this, but you'll also want to use distilled water to make your dyes, not normal water. (Sometimes finding distilled water is the most difficult step!) Most kits also do not include the necessary pump for draining out the insides.And yes – be not afraid! Even if the results start out rocky, the process of this craft is so much more rich and even reminiscent of the liturgy than any common, American easter egg custom. Admittedly, flames, hot wax, and dye can all be tricky things to manage. But if you have patience and can supervise, you can do this. (I'll leave out, for now, tales of frustration dropping eggs after hours of painstaking work… and the story of that time Rosie caught her bangs on fire leaning into the candle, deep in concentration… What's that? Yes, pysanky is a cinch. You will have no problem. :P)You will also be able to find a fair bit of info online with basic tips about how to clean out the eggshell, how to treat it during the process, how to store dyes, etc. I'll resist going into detail here, because it's a craft that could have a whole blog of its own!
Jackie says
I LOVE PSANKY! I, too, learned how to do them as a child (though my designs are FAR more simple than yours). I hope to pass the tradition to my own children.What I mean to say is: Your eggs are just beautiful!I'm sure the recipients were overjoyed with the gift.
Nick L says
Your gift blew us away. Even though your pictures are excellent, the egg is even more beautiful seen in person. Only when you're up close can you really appreciate all the detail that was lovingly added over so many hours. Natasha and I absolutely love ours. We were stunned when we opened the box and now keep it on our dresser where we can see it every day.Love,nick
Sophie Miriam says
Yes, I'm posting again. :PSomeone said something about how this would be hard to do with toddlers. Don't underestimate them! We have never ever done anything nearly this complicated with a toddler, and I'm not suggesting that anyone do, but we always make our Easter eggs out of empty shells, since we aren't a huge fan of hard-boiled eggs at our house. Toddlers are actually pretty good at not breaking them.
Melanie says
Wow! Those are lovely. I am intrigued by this process, and may have to check out the kits mentioned for my kids and myself to try it!
Anonymous says
Thank you for introducing me to such an interesting, unique craft. Absolutely stunning!Erika O.
Kari says
So I'm curious…how do you get true colors once you've dipped the egg in yellow? Doesn't that make all your blues greenish and all your reds orangish?Lovely, lovely! and So small and detailed!Kari
Pam says
Stunning! My very creative 6-year-old was watching me read this and she immediately started obsessing about making these and is quite insistent that we order a kit (NOW!) She may have caught the fever….Thanks for sharing your beautiful work.Pam
Deirdre says
Thanks again, everyone! Lorraine – see, I was in a weaning process with the one I gave to you, as well as the Tree of Life one I gave to Rosie. It's easier to give them away… to people you live with. 😛 Pam – "fever" is right… and I hope so! 🙂 Kari – actually, the colors lay right over each other pretty effectively, especially the first two or three that go on. You can leave the egg in the dye for quite a while to achieve more concentrated colors, sometimes up to several hours. (I've devised a kind of contraption involving a spoon to hold the hollow egg down in the liquid and a rubber band leveraged around the jar to hold the spoon in place. I didn't do that with these goose eggs, however.) What gets tricky is keeping the colors fresh and true towards the end of the process; sometimes I go too far and try to fit too many colors on, and then it can get muddy. It takes a lot of practice. I like to keep broken eggshells around for testing colors and color combinations. But again, it does vary to some extent with each individual egg.
Sara says
I loved this post! Your eggs are gorgeous, Deirdre, and it was a great tutorial. My kids and I just ordered a kit yesterday and they are chomping at the bit for it to come. I think we'll have to wait until Easter week to get started, though. Where do you get your large eggs? And do you save the dyes in mason jars—for how long?
Deirdre says
The large eggshells were a gift from a friend of my grandmothers (possibly someone who owns geese? I'm not sure). But you can buy them online. Those dyes hang out in those mason jars all year long. I keep them stored in my closet in my room! If you make some, they will definitely last perfectly through a few weeks' worth of pysanky-ing. There are different techniques for keeping dyes; some people recommend freezing them, which works fine. They will generally keep for up to a few years, but some maintenance may be required. For unfrozen dyes, sometimes they acquire a little bit of (inoffensive) mold, in which case the thing to do is strain them out and sometimes to re-boil them. It's also not that big a deal simply to make fresh dyes each year. I just like to keep mine because I have up to around 20 different colors made and it's a lot of work to re-make all of those. Good luck!
Wanderingsue says
Wow. I'm in awe. Thank you Deirdre.
Rochelle says
These are amazing!! I'm so impressed. Wow. Lovely work.
BLD in MT says
I don't even know what to say. That is just flat-out amazing! I am blown away by the whole process as well as the end result. You do very good work.
Anonymous says
Where could I get a kit for these? I took a class on them and loved it, but I can't find a kit online.
momco3 says
The first time I read this post, I was totally blown away. What a beautiful gift. Second time through, I'm stunned again. They're just stunning!
Deb says
Truly a beautiful gift – both to the eyes and to the heart … a gift of love painstakingly created and preserved. Just stunning!