My Pysanky
On these pages you will find photos of pysanky that I have created. They are sorted into these sections:
My Old Pysanky: Pysanky with traditional and modern patterns that I made over the years. These eggs are not quite antiques, but the faded, yellowing varnish and unemptied shells give away their age. These pysanky are the survivors that didn't leak or explode.
Modern Pysanky: These are pysanky which are done in the traditional manner, and use some traditional motifs, but may use modern colors and have some nontraditional design elements. In other words, they are modern inventions of an ancient art. I’ve organized these pysanky by their design themes: Trypillian, brown eggs, bleached eggs, stars, birds, etc. As well, these pysanky are shown in these sections:
Annual Collections: Each year I will add the new patterns I have created that year. These may be copies or variations on other people’s pysanky, or may be my own patterns.
Posters: Each year I send out a poster of that year’s pysanky as a spring greeting. They’re nice to look at, and make great wallpaper for your computer desktop.
Baskets and Bowls: Some of these photos were purposeful, and others were taken in the course of photographing my pysanky in order to keep track of them. But I liked how they all turned out, so here they are.
Traditional Pysanky: Copies of traditional patterns which I have found in books and museum collections. I may change the color or design a little bit (although I try not to), but the message of the pysanka should remain unchanged. These are organized both by traditional divisions (40 triangles), technique (drop-pull) and by region (Volyn’, Lemkivshchyna, Cherkassy, etc.). I’ve tried to include historical and ethnographic background information where possible.
Nontraditional Pysanky: These are eggs made using the traditional wax resist method, but with absolutely non-traditional designs. I’ve created jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, snowflake eggs for winter, and penguin eggs for fun. I’ve also made some very tiny pysanky on cockatiel and parrot eggs. (The snowflake eggs now have their own section here.)
Pysanka Galleries: These contain a mix of my pysanky, and those made by my friends and family. Baba’s and Laurie’s eggs are mostly mine, and the first of Mary’s pages is also.
Click on any underlined words or phrases to go to the corresponding pages.
Back to MAIN Pysanka home page.
Back to Pysanka Index.
Please note that, while the designs may not be my originals, the photos and many of the eggs are my own work. If you wish to download them to use them for your own purposes – as computer wallpaper, to copy the designs, just to enjoy – feel free to do so. If you wish to republish them anywhere, please ask my permission and give me credit . Thanks.
And if I have made a copy of one of your original pysanka designs, and you would like credit, please let me know. I’ve accumulated a huge library of designs (several thousand scanned and downloaded photos in my private collection) and am not always sure who I am borrowing from.
