In thinking about Easter coming up this Sunday, I can’t help but think back to how fun it was and how much I looked forward to decorating Easter eggs when I was younger. But decorating eggs doesn’t have to be just for kids. In fact, there is a traditional Ukrainian art of decorating eggs that requires a slightly higher skill level.

Pysanky is an ancient form of folk art Ukrainians used to decorate eggs using beeswax and dyes. Hot beeswax is used to draw the design onto the egg with a tool called a kitska. The egg is then dipped into dye and then dried. This process is repeated multiple times using dyes that progressively get darker, usually ending with black. Then the wax is melted off the egg revealing the finished, intricate design. The egg is then given a protective coating of shellac or varnish. The eggs are given as gifts to friends and family.

So if you are looking for a more challenging and creative way to decorate eggs this Easter, try making some Pysanky!

Tags: Easter eggs, pysanky

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David Day | Associates
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This entry was posted on Friday, April 2nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Art, Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.