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Ola Kryway of Titusville decorates Easter eggs with the centuries-old
Ukrainian method known as pysanky. Pysanky is a meticulous wax-resist
technique, in which a tool called a kystka is used to apply melted beeswax
to an egg and a series of dye baths results in a detailed design. Kryway
has been practicing this art for over 60 years. She grew up in Montreal
in a Ukrainian immigrant family that actively preserved Old World culture
in its New World home. She learned the technique and symbols of pysanky
as a young girl from her mother, sisters, aunts and cousins. They all
would work together for several weeks before Easter to decorate eggs.
On Easter morning the eggs were blessed in church, then given to friends
as love offerings.
According to an Ukrainian myth, the Madonna brought eggs when she attempted
to see Pontius Pilate to ask him to spare Christ’s life. When denied admittance
by Pilate’s guards, she began to cry. As her tears fell on the eggs, they
turned brilliant colors. The colored eggs rolled to the end of the earth,
where an evil dragon was held in chains. Traditional belief maintains
that each decorated Easter egg adds a link to the chains that keep evil
in check.
The psyanky tradition is rich in symbolism; the egg itself is a sign
of rebirth or resurrection. Contemporary designs incorporate a variety
of symbolic motifs, some dating from pre-Christian times. For example,
a ribbon or belt around the egg means eternity; a rooster, as the messenger
of light, is a symbol of Christ; and a butterfly signifies resurrection.
Kryway begins the pysanky process by drawing a design on an egg with
a pencil. Next she applies beeswax to the area that is to remain white
and dyes the egg with the lightest color. When the first color is dry,
she adds wax to part of this colored area and dyes the egg with another
color. This sequence is repeated with increasingly darker colors, until
the design is complete. After the final dye bath, she pierces both ends
of the egg with a pin or needle and blows out the contents. To remove
the wax, she then places the egg in her kitchen oven for a few minutes
at 200 degrees. Removing the egg from the oven, says Kryway, is the most
exciting part, since it is the first time she gets to see the results
of her work. “An egg is organic,” she explains. “You never
can tell how it’s going to take colors.” After the egg cools, she
rubs on a coat of varnish or shellac with her hands.
Participating in exhibits and giving psyanky workshops provides Kryway
with opportunities to meet Floridians of Ukrainian descent and share her
heritage with others. “When I start this Easter egg business, they
come out of the woodwork,” she says.
— Robert Stone
Photograph courtesy of Ola Kryway
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