The Pysanky of Tamara Filas

Pysanky is the art of dyeing eggs using a wax resist method, common in Ukraine and other Slavic countries. One dyed egg is referred to as a pysanka, the singular form of pysanky. It is a common tradition to dye them around Easter. I am half Ukrainian, so I enjoy being able to continue this part of my heritage. My designs are different than some of the traditional pysanky, which uses many common motifs that have historical meanings, generally presented in a symmetrical manner. Mine are more of a free-form type of design, often asymmetrical.

I learned how to make pysanky in April 2002 at my grandmother's church. During the school year of 2003-2004, I was even able to teach ten of my art students how to create their own pysanky. If you would like to read more about it, follow the link to the text I wrote when I taught this art.

A great resource to purchase dyes, beeswax and kistky (the tools used to apply the melted wax), is the Ukrainian Gift Shop, which has been in the business for decades.

Hen Egg pysanky photographed individually

These were photographed in 2025, many years after their creation in the early 2000's. They are hollowed out, and were displayed by hanging them with a string secured by a button at the bottom. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that sunlight fades the dye over time. Some are not as brilliant as when they were first created, but at least the designs are still quite visible. An electric kistka with 3 different tip sizes was used to make them.

Although there is no spacing between the photographs of each egg to maintain continuity in its rotated display, you can still click on each of the five images for an enlarged view.

These two were duck eggs, which did not accept the dyes as well as hen eggs.

These were my first attempts at making pysanky. I used an "old-school" kistka that was heated in a candle flame. I decided to include these examples for two reasons: 1) to help the beginner realize that there is a learning curve, and encourage them not to give up if their first works are not as beautiful as they imagined; and 2) to show just how much an electric kistka can offer with regard to the amount of intricacy possible, and the more accurate application of the wax.