Pysanky Eggs with the Uppers (6th-8th)

This week the Uppers hosted Jane Stephenson, local artist and former long-time Center School staff member, for a workshop in pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter egg dying.  Jane brought an abundance of materials in the Projects room and each student had the chance to spend at least two hours learning this ancient and intricate craft with Jane, who has almost 30 years experience in this artform!  “When I work with Center School kids,” Jane comments,” I am always so impressed by their problem-solving abilities and resilience.  This is a delicate art form with fragile canvases, hot wax, a round surface, unfamiliar tools, and unpredictable dyes.  Center School kids are always so good at problem-solving and show incredible resilience when things don’t go as planned.”  

To make a pysanka, you heat a tiny metal funnel in a candle flame. Once it is hot, you scoop it gently through a block of black beeswax and then drag the tip of the funnel over the surface of an egg, drawing on the egg with the hot wax. After the first layer of wax drawing is complete, you dye your egg, and then add more layers of wax drawing and more layers of dye. When you have completed all your desired layers, you gently heat the egg in the candle flame and wipe away all the beeswax, revealing an intricate, layered, multicolored design.

Many students found the process calming and satisfying. As we all approached the challenge of drawing tiny wax lines on the curved surfaces of our eggs, honest encouragement and appreciation flowed around our tables. It was the perfect stretch for middle schoolers, reminding me of the value of activities that are just-hard-enough-but-not-too-hard to bring a community together.

Afterwards, students reflected on the experience. Here are excerpts from their discussion:

It was relaxing and I want to do more. 

I like that if you mess up it will still look cool.  

Intricacy - you can add a lot of detail, but if you mess up, it still looks good.

Pysanky is hip because you get to make fun designs…on egg shells!

I liked the smell of the fire. Could we have that smell in our rooms everyday? 

I loved seeing all the different designs of eggs.  

Jane’s introduction was great, and she let us figure out a lot of things on our own.  

Jane is very helpful and gives us freedom of choice and allows us to learn by doing.

The teacher (Jane) is the vibe. She’s gnarly and groovy.

The vibe is indescribable.  It’s quotable.

Can we do more?

THANK YOU, JANE!