The art of Pysanky: traditional egg decorating from Europe

[cobalt123@beige.party]

@globalmuseum So associated with Ukraine and maybe Czechoslovakia. Prolly not often done these days due to Reasons.

[missconstrue@mefi.social]

@globalmuseum Wow! Just...wow.

[arisummerland@beige.party]

@globalmuseum

Absolutely mesmerizing!

[slyborg@ohai.social]

@globalmuseum I tried this once in high school after reading about Ukrainian Easter eggs and gained enormous respect for the people who have the skill and patience to do this!

[birgitk@mastodon.nl]

@globalmuseum @estakkie wow!!!!!

[oscarfalcon@mastodon.social]

@globalmuseum

Wow, fantastic!

[pointlessone@status.pointless.one]

@globalmuseum @aegir traditionally they’re not drained but boiled hard. They’re decorated for Easter usually. People give them to each other as gifts.

[andersgundelach@mastodon.nu]

@globalmuseum

Fantastic ️

[evannakita@mastodon.online]

@globalmuseum I used to do this with my mom when I was a kid! I was never *nearly* this good at it; it's really hard to keep the wax steady.

[deborahh@cosocial.ca]

@globalmuseum @CorinnaBaldauf thank you!

[aadmaa2@mathstodon.xyz]

@evannakita @globalmuseum Sooo cool and a beautiful result. What's the black inky dip made with?

[catmisgivings@stranger.social]

@globalmuseum

[tazpoltorak@fosstodon.org]

@globalmuseum This is a very cool example. Pysanka workshops are organised at least in the Ukrainian club in London, and I am sure that other places do this too. It's amazing to paint a real egg of course, but you can do it on a wooden form. Then you put them into your Easter basket.

Dyeing a hardboiled egg is somewhat different, you just boil it with a food dye. I onced airbrushed duck eggs with cake paint, in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and that worked too,

[evannakita@mastodon.online]

@aadmaa2 @globalmuseum I have no idea how the dyes are made, I'm afraid! I think my mom just got them in premade packets that we just put in water.

[d1@autistics.life]

@globalmuseum Here's one I made.

[loganfive@beige.party]

@globalmuseum
#AltText It’s really an amazing video showing a nail used to make a small hole to release the yolk of an egg, followed by several designs put on the egg followed by dipping in a color. Then more etch a sketch type designs followed by more dipping. It’s dipped like three or four times in colors, the last being black. And then someone, because of how it’s laid out, it’s held up to a candle and all the colors and designs reveal themselves. It’s quite amazing.

[calcius@hol.ogra.ph]

@globalmuseum@mastodon.online

the video led me to look into this

Pysanky – The art of the decorated egg, or the pysanka (from the Ukrainian verb pysaty, to write), dates back to ancient times.


The practice originated in the prehistoric Trypillian culture. Tales reveal that the Peoples who lived in the region (now known as Ukraine) worshipped the sun. They believed that it was the source of all life, as it warmed the earth and allowed all to grown and flourish underneath it. Eggs decorated with nature symbols were chosen for sun worship ceremonies and became an integral talisman of spring rituals.

https://www.archaeologynow.org/blog/the-ancient-story-of-pysanky

[lies_das@digitalcourage.social]

@globalmuseum ilike

[olivercocker@mstdn.social]

@globalmuseum wow, gorgeous!

[anke@social.scribblers.club]

@LoganFive @globalmuseum
Clarification: The designs are drawn using wax, so the following dye-dips don't colour the parts that were drawn on.
The last step is removing the wax by heating with a candle flame and wiping with a cloth.