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Story by Donna Healy, Photos by Larry Mayer
Of The Gazette Staff, The Billings Gazette
Billings, Montana, March 1, 2004
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BILLINGS, Montana - Libby Laird's Ukrainian Easter eggs are no
longer as intricate as they once were, but they may be more precious.
In April, one of her eggs will represent the state of Montana in the annual
Easter egg display in the White House Visitors Center.
She's honored to have her egg join the White House's permanent collection.
She's far more grateful for the surgery that restored her eyesight.
In mid-September, Laird was startled by a request from the American Egg
Board to decorate an egg. The board, which contributes 7,200 eggs for the
White House Easter Egg Roll, has coordinated an annual egg-art display for
the past decade.
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On Laird's Montana egg, shown above in three views, mountains rise to meet
blue skies
LARRY MAYER/Gazette staff
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The eggs, one from each state and the District of Columbia, go on display in
the Visitors Center for five weeks, starting April 1. Afterward, they become
part of the White House permanent collection and will eventually be housed
in a presidential library's collection.
Laird, who works for an advertising agency in Billings, approached the
assignment with excitement and a bit of trepidation.
Since the 1970s, she has taught students to decorate the intricate Ukrainian
Easter eggs known as pysanky. But, two years ago, Laird lost her eyesight
from complications of diabetes. Aneurysms caused blood vessels in her eyes
to rupture and hemorrhage. Blood clouded her eyes like thick, dark oil.
"I was two-fingers blind. I couldn't see two fingers in front of my face. I
was white-cane blind for about six months," she said.
She went through six surgeries to restore her sight. Although her vision is
back to 20/50, scars left from those surgeries and prior surgeries have left
"holes" in her eyesight. A diabetic for 28 years, Laird has undergone 19 eye
surgeries, including two operations to remove cataracts.
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Laird shows a prototype of the Easter egg that she made for display at the
White House
LARRY MAYER/Gazette staff
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With the help of a magnifying glass, she can still work on the Ukrainian
eggs, which use a wax-resist technique. A cone-shaped tool known as a kistka
funnels a thin line of melted wax onto the egg. Like batik on cloth, layers
of wax protect one color from the next color of dye.
On her White House egg, mountains rise to meet the blue skies of Big Sky
country.
"I'm grateful every day I can see," Laird said. "And I'm grateful every day
I can see the mountains because I love the mountains."
Other Montana images fill the White House egg.
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"What I really wanted to do was use the Ukrainian style of decorating, but
making it truly Montanan by using Montana themes," she said.
If you go Libby Laird will teach a Ukrainian egg-painting class from 10 a.m.
to 1 p.m. Saturday at McIntosh Art, 2507 Montana Ave [Billings].
Preregistration is required for the class, which costs $24. Call 252-2010.
A stylized Ukrainian deer grazes in a meadow because Montana is known as a
place where the deer and the antelope play. In Ukrainian designs, simple
cross-hatched lines represent Christ's crown of thorns.
"I thought they looked like barbed wire," Laird said.
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Images of state symbols, including the meadowlark, the bitterroot flower and
the Ponderosa pine, made it onto the egg. But the fish are generic fish
rather than the state's cutthroat trout. By dyeing the fish red, she was
able to juxtapose dark and light colors to make the design stand out.
She pictured the Rimrocks to symbolize Billings and used feathers in the
center band to represent Montana's Indian tribes. Another traditional
Ukrainian symbol represents wheat.
Before producing the finished egg and shipping it to Washington, Laird
made eight prototypes.
"I didn't keep all of them," she said.
The first egg's horizontal bands accentuated the wobbles caused by her
limited vision. She switched to vertical bands.
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With the aid of a magnifier, Libby Laird works on an egg.
LARRY MAYER/Gazette staff
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"I know that this egg isn't perfect," she said. "Some of the lines aren't as
straight as they could be, but looking through a magnifier doesn't help your
depth perception."
In Ukrainian tradition, time spent doing the eggs is considered an act of
prayer.
"It's like being in touch with God, creatively," she said.
The invitation to decorate Montana's egg came with an invitation to visit
Washington for a special White House tour in conjunction with the exhibit's
opening.
For the past two years, the White House has featured pictures of the eggs on
its Web site. Last year's egg, showing a beaded Montana flag, was done by a
woman in Texas.
The American Egg Board apparently had difficulty locating a Montana egg
decorator, Laird said. The board's promotion coordinator tracked down Laird
by calling art-supply stores.
Since moving to Billings in 1998, Laird has taught classes on Ukrainian egg
decorating techniques through McIntosh Art and through her church, St.
Luke's Episcopal.
Donna Healy may be reached at 657-1292 or dhealy@billingsgazette.com.
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