NorVA-goers got creative this past weekend at an egg-decorating workshop led by local artist Katie Kozak.
Kozak learned the Ukrainian art of pysanky from her late grandmother, or baba, Sophie Ostrowski, and fell in love with the traditional art form as a child.
“This workshop was particularly special since this will be my first Easter without making eggs with my baba,” said Kozak. “So it was nice to share in the making with others, as well as hear stories from some that knew her.”
Last Saturday afternoon, March 21, 13 workshop attendees watched as Kozak, with her mother Phyllis as an assistant, demonstrated how to draw a basic star pattern onto an egg.
Once the pattern was drawn, each participant used a candle, beeswax, and a special stylus called a kistka to add a layer of wax over this initial design.
The eggs were then dipped in yellow dye, and the creative stage of the process began.
When an artist uses wax to draw a pattern or motif on the egg, the colour underneath the wax is retained.
Pysanka creators produce intricate decorated eggs by adding successive layers of wax designs and dye of various colours.
Workshop participants were limited only by their imagination – and the steadiness of their hands – as they drew their own patterns on their eggs.
As the pysanky workshop came to a close on Saturday, the participants added the final layer of dye, then held their eggs to a candle flame to melt away the layers of wax, revealing the vibrant colours underneath.
“Egg workshops are always exciting to be a part of, because of the beauty of what is revealed at the end,” said Kozak.
While each pysanka egg began from the same initial pattern, the final designs from this workshop were as unique as the artists that made them.
