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Drop Pull Class Preparation

3/24/2014

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When I teach a class on Lemko Drop-Pull pysanka, I have several ideas for preparation: 
#1.  A pre-divided egg, with a basic "rosette" to begin students' learning 
#2.  Take-home motif handout (included in fee), which the student can use for elaborating the class egg. 
#3.  A paper plate, with penciled-in motifs to practice on, before applying strokes with the stylus to the egg
#4.  A small take-home cardboard stencil of circles (of various sizes), used for tracing onto follow-up eggs.
#5.  Take-home #1 drop-pull stylus, and wax melter with bees wax/tea lite included(this is included in the class fee)
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#1. A pre-divided egg, with a basic "rosette" to launch a student's creativity.
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#2 I made a worksheet with more simplified motifs for beginners.
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#2 Lemko patterns: From the Vera Manko portfolio-link to buying her book.
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#3. I pre-draw some typical motifs in pencil. The students can trace over in wax, and also invent their own patterns on the paper plate.
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#4. I make index card templates for students to use and then take home if they wish.
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#5. Take-home( #1 drop-pull stylus), and wax melter with bees wax/tea lite included(this is included in the class fee). You can also not sell these and just use them for each class. I have a set for this purpose.
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There are many sizes of drop-pull tools but the best for teaching a beginner class is the #1 stylus
It is important to have the students practice first.  There is a rhythm to the strokes:  
  • Heat Stylus Over Candle-try not to use a tea-light, as its heat is low
  • Dip Heated Stylus into Melted Wax-
  • Practice on Paper Plate-Drop...Pull the stroke
  • Finally, Write Onto Egg...repeat the pattern
The first two photos show me demonstrating to the class, how to practice on a paper plate before going onto the egg.  You can see in the third photo, that I have pre-traced two egg shapes in pencil, as practice.  Then students continue to wax over the design and improvise on their own.  The purpose is to establish a comfort level with using the stylus and melted wax, before applying it to the raw egg. 
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As I demo the strokes , I repeat out loud-"Drop…Pull-Drop…Pull", trying to show that there is a rhythm to the strokes.
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A student's creativity is boundless…her own pattern!
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Lemko Eggs- Short Videos

3/6/2014

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A Great Beginner Book of Drop-Pull Style Patterns !

6/13/2013

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    I found an excellent book which has a wonderful selection of Drop-Pull patterns.  There are other egg projects, but hundreds of drop-pull patterns.  
     You can find it cheaper on ebay, but amazon.com also carries it.  I bought a used copy as I do with most pysanky books that I buy.  

Great Book of Egg Decorating 
by Brazia Buttafuoco & Dede Varetto 




For some reason, it also lists with the cover image below. 

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IT ALSO LISTS WITH THIS COVER, SO YOU CAN LOOK FOR EITHER COVER.
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Preparing for an Audience Demonstration

5/2/2012

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If you are planning to do a demonstration a tip is to prepare a half-dozen or a dozen eggs beforehand.  Prepare them in different stages to show the audience: dividing the egg,
measuring out a design, first waxing covering White, second wax covering Yellow,
etc.  Your audience will certainly ask questions.  By having eggs prepared ahead of time, it is valuable to being able to answer a question with an example in hand.   It is also advisable to have at least three eggs that are completely waxed and dyed, so that you can demonstrate taking off the wax with a cloth and candle.  This breathtaking moment will speak louder than any explanation.  Often I will remove only a section of the wax on a completed egg, and save another section for another audience, etc.   But if you have enough completed eggs then you are good to remove all wax.  
The photograph below shows the prepared batch of eggs for a demonstration of Lemko style
pysanky. In the left column you see pencil guide lines on each egg; middle column, I have done wax on white and at the demo will place each one into a dye color; right column, I will write over the yellow and then dye it a second time. All of these eggs need to be dyed, then another wax, then dye, then removal of wax with a candle.  Lemko eggs usually have one or two colors only and the wax is removed in the end. CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW


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Examples of Lemko Drop Pull Color Combinations

4/23/2012

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In this blog you will see a pdf file to download, that has some suggestions of color combinations and an example of a Lemko Drop Pull pysanky for each. Most Lemko Drop Pull designs incorporate less colors than other pysanky traditions.   Typically, it will start with White plus one color; yet they  can be rendered beginning with White plus up to three additional colors.  The choice is yours. It is important to note that Lemko Drop Pull pysanky remove the wax at the end of the process, unlike Lithuanian pysanky that apply colored waxes and leave them on the egg. 
As you see in previous blogs, the Lemko Drop Pull pysanky are made with a hot liquid bees wax and were traditionally applied with a pin head instead of a kistka.  The pin places a drop of wax on the egg and then the drop is pulled sideways making wonderful strokes of wax.  The strokes are arranged into traditional patterns. 
samples_of_lemko_pysanky_colors.pdf
File Size: 470 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Lemko Pysanky Strokes For You to Print Out

4/13/2012

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I have made a pdf file of Lemko style Pysanky strokes that you  can print  out.  Before writing on the egg, irst practice the design on the back of a paper plate as you see in the photo. 
  Please not that the last page of the print out is not Lemko style but Sorbian, so you can ignore this.

lemko_drop_pull_strokes.pdf
File Size: 896 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Lemko Drop-Pull Pysanky Tools

3/23/2012

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The supplies needed for writing drop pull pysanky can be very inexpensive: wax melter, tea light, bees wax and stylus.
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I bought these inexpensive wax melters at a dollar store.  They melt the wax in about 3 minutes and keep it very hot for writing.

Below you see the #1 Micro-small drop pull stylus that I like best for writing on chicken eggs and turkey eggs.  I have the best control with this stylus, athough there are other sizes you can buy.

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LEMKO DROP-PULL PYSANKY

3/23/2012

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My grandmother, Euphrosina ("Rozia" Laszenick) Taras, whom I never got to
meet was a Lemko, a distinct Ukrainian ethnic group,  from Szczawnik, (Austo-Hungarian empire). She emigrated to the US at age 18 on March 4, 1899, with $2.00 in her pocket.  
I have always wanted to work with Lemko designs.  These egg designs  are different from other Ukrainian pysanky designs.  They are simpler, using molten wax and a stylus that transfers the drop of wax onto the egg, and then is pulled to form a tail to the drop.  Generally two or three color dyes are only used.  Lemko Drop Pull eggs are a creative process, because there are hundreds of permutations of designs that can be created on the egg. 
Here are a few of the eggs that I have written and also a photo of the wax pot and stylus that I use.
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    by Maggie Tarris Bauer

    I am of Ukrainian and Polish ancestry, 2nd generation American, who grew up in an ethnic household and neighborhood in Passaic, NJ.   Keeping with tradition, I learned to write pysanky as a young girl and continue to work on my passion for pysanky.  I teach classes and demonstrate the art year-round.

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