Babushka Pysanka

Here is one of a series of Ukrainian eggs I painted to give as Christmas gifts this winter. This style of egg decorating is called pysanky, which originated in Ukraine but it is also very popular in Poland. As soon as I was old enough to play with hot wax and fire my mom passed the tradition on to me.

Pysanky are customarily made with real eggs (chicken, goose, ostrich, cadbury), and the crazy folkloric geometric designs are created with layers of beeswax and colored dyes. The wax is melted off as a last step, magically revealing the design underneath! I went buck wild this time and used wooden eggs, acrylic paint and paint markers, not because I don't love the traditional process, but because the eggs tend to crack and break over time if not stored very carefully and I didn't want to put that fragile burden upon my gift recipients. Not until I can afford to buy a hyperbaric chamber to go with each egg.

Anyhow, this little babushka pysanka is one of my favorites. The egg measures just under 3.5" high by 2.5" wide.