Egg-citing art displayed at Septemberfest in Peters Township
While viewing a basket full of cookies bearing intricate designs, David Protivnak made an observation that likely was shared by many others who took a look.
“You see the lacework,” he said about the patterns formed with colorful icing. “You see the very tiny, detailed lines. It’s tedious work. I would go nuts trying to make something like that.”
The decorated cookies, called medovníky, were on display at a handicrafts table featuring the work of Chicago-area artisan Viera Kolesárová during the annual Septemberfest at the National Slovak Society Heritage Museum in Peters Township.
Protivnak, a Greenfield resident who lived in Slovakia for 15 years, attended to assist Kolesárová as visitors marveled at her talents, especially in the art of kraslice, which means beautiful or embellished egg.
“All of this is an Easter tradition. There are different styles and different eggs: chicken eggs, goose eggs. She didn’t bring them, but also she has emu and ostrich eggs,” Protivnak said, with the latter averaging some six inches in length and weighing three pounds.
Of course, by the time the kraslice artist goes to work, the weight of any egg is down considerably.
“They make a hole here and make a hole here,” Protivnak explained, motioning to either end of the asymmetrical oval, “and puncture the membrane. They blow it, and the whole egg inside comes out. And it’s just a shell.”
And so it’s delicate: “You don’t sit on it.”
Sitting nearby at Septemberfest was Mark Jesko of Uniontown, who has been applying his skills to embellishing eggs for 40 years.
“There are a lot of different techniques that people use to make kraslice,” he said while demonstrating batik, in which wax is used as a dye repellent. His preferred materials are beeswax and melted Crayola crayons, which he keeps handy in an array of spoons with a small heating lamp underneath.
Other techniques include using straw and stitching to produce designs, plus the decidedly Slovak tradition of covering the egg with thin strands of knotted copper wire. Kolesárová also paints eggs with depictions of costumes from different regions of Slovakia.
Next to them on her display table were items that appeared to be similar until a closer inspection.
“These are actually not even eggs,” Protivnak said. “These are papier-mâché, looking like eggs.”
And that’s close enough for kraslice.