Ukrainian Pysanka

The original Easter egg.

Pysanky artists decorates Easter eggs using methods and symbols that have been part of Ukrainian culture for centuries. Pysanky (PIH-sahn-kih) are eggs decorated with a process that employs wax and dyes, using different colors and symbols that have special meanings in Ukrainian tradition. A single egg is a pysanka.

Pysanka art by Sophie Pidwerbeski,
my baba

My grandmother, Sophie, and her sisters, mother, and grandmothers, who were all born in the Ukraine, knew the art of this treasured Ukrainian tradition.

The tradition of pysanky is believed to pre-date Christian times, even going as far back as Trypillian culture--and ancient Eastern European civilization. As Christianity spread into Ukraine, the pagan symbols used to decorate the eggs were given Christian associations, and pysanky became a form of folk art connected to Easter.

The art form, somehow, and often in secret, survived despite the many hardships of the artists over the years: war, Communist rule, and even during the period when religious practices were outlawed.

Although I do not know the art myself (it is on my bucket list of things to learn), I do remember my mother and grandmother drawing on the Easter eggs, first with pencil then with wax, and then dipping them into different colors.

The pysanky are created using a wax-resistant dyeing technique: the eggs are dyed in progressive stages and wax is applied to resist the dye from settling in certain parts.

Drawing the wax design on the eggs is called "writing"--the term comes from the word "pysaty", which means "to write". The writing is applied with a stylus called a kistka.                 

Eggs made by my aunties and cousin that still live in the Ukraine
and somehow got them to Canada in original condition.

The designs are filled with symbolism---all the shapes and simple picture have a particular meaning, for examples: triangles represents the Holy Trinity; a rooster symbolizes fertility; yellow is associated with youth; black with mortality; red with love and passion for Christ.

Instructions on how to do the pysanka art: http://www.ehow.com/how_8568216_pysanky-instructions.html

Another good resource page on the art: http://www.conjure.com/icon.html

My aunties and cousin in the Ukraine.
1985

Pysanky art is a wonderful art form that I fear is fading away with the older generations. 

That gives me an idea. After I learn the art, I could give art classes where I teach visual arts. Anyone want to take an Easter egg course?

copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2014

Related post, The Ukrainian Writer: http://www.dianemaerobinson.com/2013/06/the-ukrainian-writer.html

The Ukrainian Writer.

By heritage of my mother's mother, I am of Ukrainian descent. My baba, Sophie ( Софія),was a wonderful baba---of the very round and jolly kind.  She passed away at the age of 96, eight years ago. In all her 80 years in Canada, she never learned much English and I never learned much Ukrainian, but we communicated with gestures and the few words we each knew of the other's language.

Baba Sophie came to Canada as a pre-arranged bride at sixteen years old, to escape the war. She left her family in a village near Hordenka, in Ivano-Frankivist Oblast, Ukraine to marry a man of Ukrainian decent , John Zaharko, whom she never met before coming to Canada.

Baba Sophie Pidwerbeski and Gido John Zaharko. 1924

Gido John had already set up a farm in Alberta, Canada, so this was to be her destiny---a farmer's wife in a strange land.

Baba Sophie would never talk much about what happened during the war, and she vowed never to set foot on Ukrainian soil again. Although, she did love Ukraine while growing up there and before the war. Throughout her life in Canada, she always kept in contact with the relatives in Ukraine, sending what money or gifts she could.

Baba Sophie Pidwerbeski taught me how to make many Ukrainian dishes. I still enjoy making these dishes and have them on all special occasion. These are my favorites:

Babka: another Easter bread, usually a sweet dough with raisins and other dried fruit.

Borscht (borshch) is a vegetable soup made out of beets, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, dill

Varenyky (Perogy): Dumplings stuffed with fillings such as potato and cheese, often served boiled.

Cabbage rolls (holubtsi/holubchi): cabbage leaves (fresh or sour) rolled with rice filling and may contain meat (minced beef or bacon)

Mlyntsi: crêpes (blyntsi or nalisnyky), filled usually with cottage cheese, meat, cabbage, fruits, served with sour cream

Pyrizhky: Small potato filled buns baked in thickened rich cream and dill.

Kutia: traditional Christmas dish, made of poppy seeds, wheat, nuts, honey, and delicacies.

My mother and two of her brothers are all that are left of their immediate family. The three of them all converse in fluent Ukrainian, but I fear they are the last generation (in Canada) to do so.

Baba Sophie's 3 sisters and great niece, Ukraine, 1985

My way of keeping my heritage alive will be in preparing these Ukrainian dishes for our family gathering.

Baba Sophie and Gido John both passed away before my first book was published. They never knew that I became a children's book writer.

Visit my author's website at: http://www.dragonsbook.com