Thanks so much to everyone who linked up last
Tuesday's link-up party. All your entries were great and we had a few more entries than the week before. So, keep up the awesome work!
This week I decided I would feature Deanna from
Deanna's Creations. Her entry was a beautiful pysanky egg. I had never heard of them before, so I did a little hunting around and found that there are a ton of beautiful pysanky eggs out there made by some very talented people. Deanna is one of them. These eggs take such patience and skill. I love how detailed Deanna's eggs are and all the beautiful colors she makes them. It's amazing how she can make each egg so different. No too eggs have the same design or colors. I think its great!
A little about Deanna:
I am married, mother of 4 great kids, and a high school art teacher. I have been creating pysanky eggs for approximately 10 years. I started out creating pysanky using very crude materials to create the eggs, which included a pencil with a needle stuck in the eraser. Later, as I became more intrigued with this process, I purchased my first manual kistkas, later I upgraded for the electric kistkas.
Now let's hear from Deanna about her beautiful eggs!
The materials needed for pysank eggs include: Kistka, bees wax, blasfix, clear varnish, aniline dyes, and candle.
Traditional pysanky eggs use a variety of colors, with the last color applied being black. Traditional pysanky eggs have certain images used that represent different areas of life. However, the eggs I create lean more towards non-traditional designs.
I begin creating the eggs by drawing my design, with my kistka which holds the bees wax. The wax acts as a resists to the dye. Once my basic design is drawn with the kistka/wax, I soak the egg in the first color. The process continues by drawing more designs, with wax, over the colors I want to remain and then redipping the egg in the next color. Again, traditional eggs have multiple colors with the last dye bath being black. Once all of the designs are complete, I use a candle to melt the wax which allows for the brillance of all of the colors to show through. I then use a tool, called a blasfix, to remove the yolk which is then followed by several thin layers of clear varnish. The varnish acts as a protectant for the shell, making it stronger, as well as giving a glossy finish to the egg. Once the egg is dryed, I top the egg with some sort of finding that covers the small hole created by the blasfix. Each egg takes approximately 1-3 hours to complete, depending on the complexity of designs and the number of dye colors used.
For the egg featured here, I used only one color. I drew my lines and then dipped the egg in blue dye, followed by the removal of the wax and varnishing.
I find the creating of pysanky eggs very relaxing, and a way for me to meditate in my own little world. And, I am thrilled to be spotlighted for something that I enjoy creating, it is a great honor.
Thanks again for linking up, ladies. Keep the inspirations coming!!
There will be another link-up party on Thursday, so I hope to see you
and your wonderful creations then!!
Congrats on being featured Deanna. Grab this button.
