pysanky
Hi,
I am new to this site. I was trying to find someone in the Indianapolis area who teaches the art of pysanky -- trying to find out if there was a class scheduled sometime before Easter this year (2008).
When I was a little girl growing up in Hammond, IN, in a Polish neighborhood, I was always intrigued by the eggs in some of the Easter baskets. How did some people dye their eggs black? How did they get those intricate designs? My mother didn't know & I was too shy to inquire.
When I was living in Milwaukee, WI in the late 70's I finally learned how. I still have that original egg! I have taken classes several times over the years & I try to make pysanky every once in a while. But I know that the more you do something like this, the better you get, so some of my more recent attempts are not as beautiful as I would like.
In our tradition, the women of the parish would bring their large baskets to the church hall on Sat. morning. The baskets were filled with a representation of the foods they would be serving on Easter Sunday. The children would bring their baskets of candy & colored eggs also. The priest would come to the hall to bless the baskets. I have never heard of the matchmaking aspect.
By the way, in my search today, I found a company that sells Easter Egg Sleeves with the traditional designs. So you can actually get the effect without the effort! The site is EasterEggSleeves.com if you are interested!
I am new to this site. I was trying to find someone in the Indianapolis area who teaches the art of pysanky -- trying to find out if there was a class scheduled sometime before Easter this year (2008).
When I was a little girl growing up in Hammond, IN, in a Polish neighborhood, I was always intrigued by the eggs in some of the Easter baskets. How did some people dye their eggs black? How did they get those intricate designs? My mother didn't know & I was too shy to inquire.
When I was living in Milwaukee, WI in the late 70's I finally learned how. I still have that original egg! I have taken classes several times over the years & I try to make pysanky every once in a while. But I know that the more you do something like this, the better you get, so some of my more recent attempts are not as beautiful as I would like.
In our tradition, the women of the parish would bring their large baskets to the church hall on Sat. morning. The baskets were filled with a representation of the foods they would be serving on Easter Sunday. The children would bring their baskets of candy & colored eggs also. The priest would come to the hall to bless the baskets. I have never heard of the matchmaking aspect.
By the way, in my search today, I found a company that sells Easter Egg Sleeves with the traditional designs. So you can actually get the effect without the effort! The site is EasterEggSleeves.com if you are interested!
I'm incredibly active in the Ukraniann community in Indy. and I have not heard of a class being offered recently. We do demos at the Children's Museum every once in a while,, do a yearly thing for some local news stations, and generally something for the International Festival, but I can call around and see if anyone I know is offering them. I have taught some classes, but usually on an informal level (to girl scouts, other Ukrainians, etc.)
There's a store out of Minnesota that sells stuff and they have a few instructional leaflets... If you're interested, PM me and I can find the contact info for you.
On that note - Mary I should have read the achives, we have quite a bit in common.
There's a store out of Minnesota that sells stuff and they have a few instructional leaflets... If you're interested, PM me and I can find the contact info for you.
On that note - Mary I should have read the achives, we have quite a bit in common.
Polish Girl: Hammond? Did you ever have the chance to go to Whiting's "Pierogi Fest?" I've been begging my family to go to that for eons. Fests are fun and pierogi is delicious.
Osadczuk: We do, don't we?
Anyhoo...
Like osadczuk, I've not heard of any classes being offered any time soon. That's a shame...taking a pysanky class is a whole unique brand of fun. However, learnpysanky.com lists a woman who will teach individuals or small groups for $10 a lesson. It also says she has basic kits available to the interested. I haven't tested to see if the contact info is still good or if she still teaches, but that might be a good place to start. If she doesn't...that learnpysanky site does have some decent basic info. You'd just need supplies.
I think osadczuk and I might just order supplies from the same place. If so, they've got a website now at ukraniangiftshop.com. Give it a browse. Supplies are dead cheap, really. If you don't already have one, I'd recommend splurging for an electric kistka. (I'm partial to models with interchangeable tips.) Ooh...and dark spaghetti beeswax. I think that traditional and Delrin kistky get very annoying very quickly, and block beeswax is a pain to work with...you often get too much wax and a sloppier line. Oh, and if you want to blow the egg innards out instead of waiting for them to dry up, a Dremel tool and a certain bit ensures a lot less ruined eggs.
Once you've got good supplies, though...it's not too terribly difficult to learn or get new ideas out of books. (Still, it's a lot more fun to sit around and talk with people...) You basically just copy pictures...nothing too hard in that. I inherited Johanna Luciow's Eggs Beautiful from my mom, and it's pretty good. I've also got "Ukranian Design Book 1" by Luciow and her sisters. That one doesn't have a lot of the history and stuff...it's more just the how to and has good, step by step design instructions.
It's been ages since I've broken out the kistka, but I'd be interested in going to a class or something if there is one around. (Hint hint, osadczuk. Sounds like you've got far better connections than I do.) It would be awfully nice to make a few new ones for Easter.
Osadczuk: We do, don't we?
Anyhoo...
Like osadczuk, I've not heard of any classes being offered any time soon. That's a shame...taking a pysanky class is a whole unique brand of fun. However, learnpysanky.com lists a woman who will teach individuals or small groups for $10 a lesson. It also says she has basic kits available to the interested. I haven't tested to see if the contact info is still good or if she still teaches, but that might be a good place to start. If she doesn't...that learnpysanky site does have some decent basic info. You'd just need supplies.
I think osadczuk and I might just order supplies from the same place. If so, they've got a website now at ukraniangiftshop.com. Give it a browse. Supplies are dead cheap, really. If you don't already have one, I'd recommend splurging for an electric kistka. (I'm partial to models with interchangeable tips.) Ooh...and dark spaghetti beeswax. I think that traditional and Delrin kistky get very annoying very quickly, and block beeswax is a pain to work with...you often get too much wax and a sloppier line. Oh, and if you want to blow the egg innards out instead of waiting for them to dry up, a Dremel tool and a certain bit ensures a lot less ruined eggs.
Once you've got good supplies, though...it's not too terribly difficult to learn or get new ideas out of books. (Still, it's a lot more fun to sit around and talk with people...) You basically just copy pictures...nothing too hard in that. I inherited Johanna Luciow's Eggs Beautiful from my mom, and it's pretty good. I've also got "Ukranian Design Book 1" by Luciow and her sisters. That one doesn't have a lot of the history and stuff...it's more just the how to and has good, step by step design instructions.
It's been ages since I've broken out the kistka, but I'd be interested in going to a class or something if there is one around. (Hint hint, osadczuk. Sounds like you've got far better connections than I do.) It would be awfully nice to make a few new ones for Easter.
Thanks! I do have the book, Eggs Beautiful, as well as a couple of other resources. However, I moved from my house to an apartment a while ago & now I can't get into my storage area, so some of my treasured resources are unaccessible to me. Also, last winter I lost 2 boxes of books which got soaked even though they were on shelves. My son hauled them out & cautioned me NOT to even try to look through them. He thought they were some of my quilting books. Alas!
Anyway, it may be that the Zionsville Library is offering a class on pysanky on Sat. March 8 from 1 - 4. That day is a problem for me & so I don't know if I can make it. But you can call them to check it out -- 873-3149 x 12400.
I have never been to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting. Something always seems to come up that weekend. There's nothing better than homemade pierogi & there's nothing better than old fashioned polka music!
My father, who is 90, had his own polka band since the age of 15. He plays concertina. He still lives in Hammond. My sister lives near Chicago & married a musician who played clarinet, sax & concertina & sang. Unfortunately he died suddenly a few years ago. So we are an authentic Polka-loving family.
If you ever go to Chicago, the best place to buy great Polish food is Bobak's on the south side. They have a wide variety of dishes & many different varieties of homemade sausage. They also have an attached restaurant that serves a delicious buffet of wonderful Polish food.
It's good to connect with people with the same interests.
Anyway, it may be that the Zionsville Library is offering a class on pysanky on Sat. March 8 from 1 - 4. That day is a problem for me & so I don't know if I can make it. But you can call them to check it out -- 873-3149 x 12400.
I have never been to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting. Something always seems to come up that weekend. There's nothing better than homemade pierogi & there's nothing better than old fashioned polka music!
My father, who is 90, had his own polka band since the age of 15. He plays concertina. He still lives in Hammond. My sister lives near Chicago & married a musician who played clarinet, sax & concertina & sang. Unfortunately he died suddenly a few years ago. So we are an authentic Polka-loving family.
If you ever go to Chicago, the best place to buy great Polish food is Bobak's on the south side. They have a wide variety of dishes & many different varieties of homemade sausage. They also have an attached restaurant that serves a delicious buffet of wonderful Polish food.
It's good to connect with people with the same interests.
Oh blast...I wouldn't be able to go to the Zionsville thing either. I work all day on Saturdays and lately it'd be easier to get the Pope to lecture in Antarctica than for me to take a Saturday off.
I did e-mail the woman listed on the learnpysanky.com site to see if she still teaches. I'll let you know if I hear back from her.
Sorry to hear about your books! I empathize...most of my stuff is in storage right now too, and I've also had some sad casualties. My brother destroyed an entire crate of the china my grandmother left to me. I believe he tipped a refrigerator onto it. He's an idiot.
I did e-mail the woman listed on the learnpysanky.com site to see if she still teaches. I'll let you know if I hear back from her.
Sorry to hear about your books! I empathize...most of my stuff is in storage right now too, and I've also had some sad casualties. My brother destroyed an entire crate of the china my grandmother left to me. I believe he tipped a refrigerator onto it. He's an idiot.