Decorated this goose egg by the Ukrainian method using wax-resist and dyes. It takes a bit of practice, but the system has amazing results. My friend, Nancy Wolf, teaches this method each Easter and has taught many people how to do it. I had a wonderful afternoon at Nancy's house making this design and enjoyed meeting eight other artists.
Beautiful Jlynn. (O:
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ReplyDeleteI'm curious how it works.
ReplyDeleteYou use a tool called a kistka - the tool will hold tiny bit of wax that you melt over a candle. The wax will flow out of the point of the tool onto the egg along the lines you have decided make up your design. It is very hard to hold still so the line is even. You have to keep re-heating the wax in the tool till you have blocked out all the lines you want to remain white. Then you dye the egg in yellow dye, pat dry and apply more wax on the lines you want to stay yellow. Then dye it orange or red, apply more wax and continue in this manner until your design is complete. After the last dye bath (usually black or a dark color) you remove the wax on the egg by holding it against the flame of a candle and buffing the wax off. Finally you blow the contents of the egg out a hole you make (very carefully!) and seal the entire egg with varnish. Hopefully you have not dropped or in any other manner destroyed your egg shell throughout this process! Traditionally Ukranians (and other European countries) used plant dyes such as onion skins for color. Collecting these Easter treasures is quite popular all over the globe. So make one, Chester/Chase!
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