All Categories - PYSANKY BASICS

Create a Collage of Each Class Photos

4/1/2020

My advice is to Photograph Each Class That You Teach. It is important to always ask your audience, if anyone minds you taking photos during the class. In some cases, you may wish to have a brief 'release form' to be signed ahead of time.
For several years I taught for Triple Oaks in Franklinville, NJ. After each class, the owner Lorraine Kiefer, would send me a collage of photos she had taken during that session. What joy!
I miss teaching for Lorraine each Lenten season.
Remember, your photos become a visual reminder for the next time that you teach. Photos for example, of the dye table set-up, shell preparation, even individual student place settings keep your standards high and classes successful.

Washing-Back a Dye

2/23/2020

WHY WASH BACK? Some Pysanky artists like to “wash back” each color rather than over lapping, dipping the egg from color to color. The advantage of this is that you get to see the white canvas (space) that you have left on the egg, when you wash back. Another advantage is that you can see if there are any flaws in waxing or missed color; these can then be touched up. I have made mistakes with forgetting to dip into a dye color and then needed to remove the mistaken dye, so that I could go back to the missed color. I wash-back the shell using a light solution of Ivory Liquid and water.
Washing back with a large soft mop brush should not disturb the already waxed lines.
Mix a small dollar store pump bottle with one part Ivory Liquid, to two parts water. Pump an amount onto the brush and wash back the color. Wash back over a sink and finally rinse the egg well with cold water. Before continuing with the newest waxing and dye color, examine the egg for any flaws, such as missed waxing or missed color. You could use a fine pointed detail brush for the hard to reach bits.
REMINDERS:

the shell will saturate you need to dry the shell between multiple washes; the shell will tell you when it is time, as it will start to absorb color thinly or more slowly.
You could use a mixture of Ivory Ultra or Dawn Original dish detergent and water or b) Mrs Myers All Purpose Cleaner or c) Awesome Orange all purpose cleaner (from Dollar Tree). Use a soft toothbrush to help get the dye off. Rinse the egg thoroughly in cool water and let dry. Before you put it into the next dye, dunk it into a light solution of vinegar and water mixture to ensure that there isn't any residue left on the egg.
I have found that if you wash back too often without allowing the egg to dry completely can prevent it to oversaturate the shell so it won't take the dye properly.
If it's over-saturated with either dye or water, you may find that the shell "sweats" meaning that moisture has gotten inside through the pores. Set it aside for a day or so and work on another egg. When you go back to that egg, put it in the freezer for a few minutes. Yes, the freezer! This helps prevent speckles from developing on the egg when you dip it into the dye.
DETAIL BRUSH If you find that you have a color missing, you can use a detail brush to fill in the bit and then wax over it. Be sure to wash new brushes before using, because they contain a stiffener to hold the bristles in place.

Organizing Pysanky Supplies

1/25/2020

Organized Pysanky supplies is a priority. I bought one KALLAX shelf unit, with 8 sections and in addition, one KALLAX shelf unit, with 4 sections.
I needed the additional unit to hold a printer and paper reams.
The box inserts were also bought from IKEA . I purchased 12 of the LEKMAN storage boxes which are a heavy duty plastic. They slide out easily. Finally, I now have a surface to display my Polish and Ukrainian wood carvings that I have collected over the years.
My glass work desk is to the right and faces the garden.

Basic Star Pattern

5/29/2019

Click on PDF file link below, for a detailed "how to" draw a Star Pattern!

measuring_out__double_star.pdf
File Size:	781 kb
File Type:	pdf

Additional patterns-click on image to enlarge and print

Ellipse Pattern-Step-by-Step

5/29/2019

How to Make an Egg Dipper

4/11/2019

Unblown shells sink in the dye! Blown shells float!
Over the years, I have used slotted spoons to hold down the shell, a shot glass or small filled water bottle. All these can leave marks and possibly knock of fine waxing.
At the 2019, PysankyUSA Retreat, in Wilkes Barre, Pa., a smart idea was donated by Shannon in our 'goody bags'. It was a handmade dipper, a clever safe way to hold down the shell in the dye. I made this 'how-to' slide show so you can make your own.
I found my wire at ACE Hardware but Nina, also suggests Amazon.com

Almost Threw this Shell Away

4/9/2019

This video is from my own YouTube channel Pysanky Basics.
It's a quick reminder to keep working on a pysanky even if you are not at first, pleased with it.

Dye on Hands? Use a Glove

4/9/2019

To prevent dye from accumulating on your hands and spoiling the color, while working on Ukrainian pysanky(batik method) or the monochrome shell used for Kroszonki, the Polish scratch method of Pisanki:

I use a glove on the hand that holds the shell.
I find it a must to wear a glove, as you can see below, when working with a goose egg shell or anything larger than a chicken shell.

WORKING ON SCRATCH METHOD-DYE GETS ON YOUR HAND

WORKING WITH A KISTKA ON A GOOSE SHELL, I USE A WHITE COTTON GLOVE, SO AS NOT TO DAMAGE THE WAXING

WEAR A TIGHT FITTING WHITE COTTON GLOVE TO PROTECT YOUR HAND FROM DYE-WHILE IT LOOKS LIKE A LARGE DYE LOSS-THE GLOVE ACTUALLY PROTECTS DYE LOSS

Learning to Make Polish Kroszonki-Scratch Method Pisanki by Copying

3/22/2019

In my research on the contemporary making of Polish Kroszonki(Drapanki) scratch method, I found that many people in Poland take classes. As you can see in the images that I have collected from Polish websites, students copy from support designs given by a teacher. I also read many people learn from their family members. Please notice the pattern sheets in each of the photos that these Polish students are copying from. It is one way of learning this treasured Polish art form.

Opole Kroszonki

3/22/2019

This entry was copied from a translation from Polish to English from http://moreantiqua.com/kroszonki-opolskie/

"The tradition of making an Easter scoop in Opole Silesia has its documented pedigree and is derived from the early 13th century. However, it is widespread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Archaeological findings in Opole Ostrówek indicate even the tenth century. Easter egg in Opole Silesia in its present form spread in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were first of all decorated with the batik method, it is an egg painted with hot wax and then dyed. This method is still widely used in the vicinity of Tułowice and Korfantowa. However, a typical Silesian leaflet is a product from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The dyed egg is decorated with the engraving method (scratched), decorated with traditional floral ornaments: palm trees, flowers, leaves, whose patterns are also often found in embroidered tablecloths, curtains, decorative bedding (kapach), costumes and folk painting. The variety of patterns that are applied to the surface of the brochures depends on the artistic creativity of the creator himself. In the mid-twentieth century large clear patterns were scraped on the eggs. In the eighties, the large pattern is more and more filled, supplemented with small additions. Patterns from this period are considered by most creators to be the traditional pattern of Opole kroszonki.Shades of brown dominate the color (staining with onion shells).
This booklet has its own unique charm and the composition is clear and legible, in the depicted image there is clearly noticeable depth and subsequent layers of the presented pattern. Another very extensive element are symmetrically placed very rich lines and the real art is that they would be perfectly straight and equal in size and shape of individual, subsequent elements.
The most well-known Karczonkarzs who have made a huge contribution to the promotion of this folk art are the creators from the vicinity of Krapkowice, Opole and Strzelce Opolskie. Special inhabitants of Obrowiec laid special merits for the propagation of the Silesian Opole region. The most famous are artists who have already left us, they are:
Jerzy Lipka (1937-2011) born in Obrowiec, who lived in Gogolin until the end of his life, Maria Lipka (1899-1984) from Obrowiec, Maria Warwes (1911-1982) from Grudzice near Opole, Maria Rogosz (1932 - 2011) from Zieliny-
In addition, Gertruda Matej, Anna Skrzypczyk, Emilia Suchy, Maria Flak, Maria Kobyłka, Anna Mitko, Maria Kuczber, Piotr Wysada, and Stefania Topola. The young generation is also worthily replacing their masters.
We include such people as Agnieszka Gryc from Szczedrzyk, Patryk Blania from Obrowiec, Edeltraud Kroppop, Łucja Mandelka, Edeltraud Fornal, Kornelia Gabrielczyk, Gertrud Kleman, Małgorzata Mateja, Maria Żmija-Glombik, Renata Janik, Maria Rudzik, Elżbieta Pazur, Maria Cichoń , Ewa Hurek, Aneta Hurek, Sabina Karwat, Dominika Kunicka, Justyna Langner, Wioleta Obrzud, Agnieszka Okos, Sonia Ozimek, Natalia Patryek, Sonia Sappok."