Pysanky: beeswax, dyes make for ‘beautiful, fantastic designs’
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax, heated by a candle flame, to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff Liliana D’Andrea, 8, and her mother, Melissa, show off their pysanky.
Harry Funk / Staff Pysanky from St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswa to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant applies beeswax to an egg at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A workshop participant heats her beeswax.
Harry Funk / Staff A pysanky workshop participant heats beeswax at South Park Township Library.
Harry Funk / Staff A workshop participant compares her egg to the illustration on which it is based.
Harry Funk / Staff An egg is removed from yellow dye.
Harry Funk / Staff Bob Masztak of South Park Township works on decorating an egg.
Harry Funk / Staff An egg is removed from orange dye.
Harry Funk / Staff Liliana D’Andrea, 8, and her mother, Melissa,work on their pysanky.
Considering that she teaches how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs and belongs to an Orthodox church, Tracey Sally’s background may come as somewhat of a surprise.
“I am neither Ukrainian nor was I Orthodox before I met my wonderful husband,” she said during a March 10 instructional session at South Park Township Library.
When he and Tracey got married, Michael Sally and his mother, Pat, were quick to teach the new family member all about how to make pysanky, the Ukrainian word for the colorfully decorated eggs. And she was quick to learn.
“I like doing them,” Tracey said. “It’s very relaxing, so I do a lot.”
She and her mother-in-law join other members of St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie to conduct pysanky workshops in various suburban Pittsburgh locations, and South Park has been a popular venue for the past few years.
”There are a couple of ladies here tonight who’ve been here before,” Tracey noted. “They keep coming back, and we love seeing them.”
She explained the procedures for making pysanky, which basically involve using beeswax to apply designs, then adding layers of various-colored dyes. The presence of the wax preserves the colors beneath.
“So you get these really beautiful, fantastic designs by this process,” the Corapolis resident said.
Traditional pysanky designs were available for workshop participants to follow, and 8-year-old Liliana D’Andrea chose one featuring a star pattern with ovals, in layers of orange, red, yellow and green.
“It’s just really fun,” the third-grader from Pleasant Hills said, explaining that she and her mother, Melissa, had tried the craft at home as part of her artistic pursuits. “I like to draw a lot, and painting is probably my favorite thing to do.”
Many pysanky designs have pagan origins that later became associated with Christian themes as the practice became more church-oriented throughout the centuries.
“It’s a tradition at Eastertime to make your own pysanky, have them in the Easter basket for the blessing on Easter Sunday, and then also to exchange them, give them to your girlfriend, your boyfriend,” Pat Sally explained. “This was almost an engagement, if you gave it to the right boy, or if the boy gave it to the right girl.”
Members of St. Peter and St. Paul have carried on the tradition each Easter season with a pysnaky sale. The 49th annual event is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 20 and features more than 1,200 eggs, along with other examples of Ukrainian folk art and crafts, Ukrainian food and tours of the church.
For more information, visit www.orthodoxcarnegie.org.