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Laura Thomas, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California
Saturday, April 12, 2003
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There was something timeless in the group of women, staying indoors on a
sunny afternoon in Marin County, quietly making pysanky, eggs decorated with
the Ukrainian batik method.
They talked, even gossiped a little, but were mostly intent on the designs
they were making with kistkas, tools for drawing dripping, sooty wax across
the egg's surface, and listened carefully to the advice of Laky Hanyu, the
teacher.
"It's easier than you think and may be more difficult than you think," she
said. "It's both."
The gathering, basically an informal class at Rainbow Fabrics, Crafts and
Things of Fairfax, was a repeat of an unexpectedly successful demonstration
that owner Rose Taber had given the previous Saturday.
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Symbolic designs: Laky Hanyu compares the pysanka she's making with traditional designs in a book
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
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"We thought we would have five people, and we had 25 people, and there were
men and boys. They really got into it and wouldn't go until they were all
done, " Taber said.
Hanyu, a San Anselmo resident who described herself as a repair mechanic and
artist, learned the pysanky craft from an old friend who learned it "in
Central Park from the old Ukrainian gentlemen there."
The egg she held up was done in a traditional pattern. The apparent base
color, a deep burgundy brown, was actually a final coat of red covering
layers of yellow, black, white and blue that formed a geometric pattern.
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Hanyu explained the batiking process: Each layer of color is followed by a
drawn wax pattern that preserves that color when the next layer of dye is
applied.
"Draw a pattern where you want the white (of the egg shell) to stay, and
then dip the first color," Hanyu said. "Next, put a pattern where you want
to keep that color and dip the next color. The trick is to work light colors
in the beginning."
Making a neat, precise pattern was a challenge. It was hard for most to
match Hanyu's practiced and exact strokes, but she gently encouraged them.
"You'll get better control with experience," she said. "It's forgiving. No
matter how ugly you think your egg is, someone is going to love it."
Nicole Gogolash, who juggled her 7-month-old daughter on her back as she
drew, said it was necessary to work backward from a completed design
concept.
"You're working in reverse, so you ultimately don't know what you are going
to get," she said.
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Laky Hanyu uses a kistka to drip wax over a quick pattern sketch
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
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"And it's very soothing."
The pysanky go back to the pre-Christian history of Ukraine, according to
"Ukrainian Easter Eggs and How We Make Them" by Anne Kmit, Loretta Luciow,
Johanna Luciow and Luba Perchyshyn of the Ukrainian Gift Shop in
Minneapolis.
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Preparation: A kistka is warmed over a flame before inserting wax
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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"Eggs were chosen for sun worship ceremonies, for when an egg was broken,
the yolk represented the sun, and the whites, the moon," they said.
The practice was absorbed into Christian beliefs, and Easter became one of
the most important times of the year for designing eggs, the authors say.
The women who led the family in making them were expected to purify their
minds to be in a perfect spiritual state before the undertaking.
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"Looking at the pysanky, one is struck by the inner rules in the placement
of motifs. The composition may seem free and random, but actually it is done
according to rhythmical placing of color and proportion."
Certain symbols appearing on pysanky are universal: sun, stars, birds,
hearts, fruits and vegetables, flowers and wheat. Some are more particular
to Ukrainian culture, such as spiders. According to tradition, spiders spun
webs to cover the trail of the Holy Family in its flight to Egypt and are
believed to bring good luck.
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A Ukrainian egg painting class at Rainbow Fabrics in Fairfax
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
(Click on image to enlarge it)
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Other symbols from pagan times include the circle, into which evil cannot
come; trees and forests, which represent people in Ukrainian folklore; or
bees,
which were important for providing wax, honey and crop pollination.
Taber said making pysanky is inexpensive, just $20 for basic materials. "And
you have the joy of creating some beautiful eggs for Easter."
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But for the women sitting in Taber's store that gloriously sunny afternoon
in Fairfax, sitting together and drawing symbolic patterns on eggs was
probably joy enough.
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Modern and ancient: Patterns for Ukrainian eggs can be modern or contain traditional symbols
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
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A finished egg
Chronicle photo by Kurt Rogers
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HOW TO MAKE UKRAINIAN DYED EGGS
Ukrainian eggs typically have very elaborate geometric or natural designs,
but even eggs with simple patterns can be striking.
Begin with a simple design idea and start with just three colors.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Eggs, kistka (funnel for applying wax), beeswax, high-
quality egg dyes, candles, spoons, soft cloth, tissues, paper towels,
varnish, cleaning fluid and melting rack.
-- Choose fresh eggs and clean them if necessary in a solution of 1 quart
tepid water with 1/4 cup white vinegar. Dry with clean cloth or tissue.
-- Allow eggs to come to room temperature before decorating. Cold eggs will
"sweat," causing problems in applying the wax.
-- Prepare the dyes with boiling water according to directions on the
package and allow to cool. Mix them in clean, wide-mouthed jars and put a
spoon in each.
-- Cover the table with newspaper, and use paper towels to rest the egg
against while drawing. A rack can be made from nails pounded into a board,
or use an empty egg carton.
-- Using a pencil, draw a preliminary sketch and don't worry about mistakes.
Don't erase; smudges interfere with the dye.
-- If you want part of the design to be white, draw it first, before
applying the first color. You can start with horizontal lines dividing the
egg into eight equal parts, adding a small leaf pattern in each section.
-- Heat the kistka funnel against the candle flame and scoop a bit of wax
into it. The wax eventually becomes black because of the carbon in the
flame. It's all right because it allows you to see the lines you are
drawing. It will come off later.
-- Practice applying the wax on a newspaper first to get a feel for how the
wax flows before starting to lay the wax on the design.
-- When the waxing is done, place the egg on a spoon and ease it into a
yellow, or other light-colored, dye and leave for five to 10 minutes.
-- Remove egg and pat dry with clean tissue, but do not rub. Apply the next
part of the pattern, perhaps an elaboration of the petal theme, and dip into
the next color.
-- Repeat once or twice more, adding a new piece of pattern and color each
time.
-- To blow the egg contents from the shell, tap a hole with a pin in both
ends and blow through one end to release yolk and white into a dish. An
inexpensive blowing tool makes this task easier.
-- Allow the egg to dry thoroughly before removing the wax.
-- The wax can be melted by moving the egg, a section at a time, back and
forth in the candle flame until the section looks wet. Then wipe off the wax
with a clean, dry cloth. Don't hold the egg over the flame too long or
carbon will collect on the shell. Don't heat too large a portion of the egg
at one time.
-- Use a cleaning solvent to clean off remaining wax.
-- Use a clear gloss varnish or polyurethane wood finish to cover the egg.
Supplies are available at various craft stores. Much information is
available online by doing a search with the keyword pysanky.
San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California
Laura Thomas at lthomas@sfchronicle.com.
For personal and academic use only
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