Bio-Lancaster Fainting, Saturday, April 15, 1995 'll 1 Ml Mrs. Same’s fourth grade class works on pysanky. The students wear cover their desks with newspaper while working on the project. LORETTA GOLDEN Cambria Co. Correspondent JOHNSTOWN (Lancaster Co.) It’s time to begin coloring Eas ter eggs. A centuries-old craft called pysanky is a wonderful decoration for eggs. Psanky are very fancy multi colored eggs. It is a folk art that has come from the countries of Eastern Europe. You will need adult supervision with this project. It works best to use hollow eggs. To do this, pierce both ends of the egg with a hat pin and insert this far enough into the Maggl Brandle, toft, and Stephanie Greenwood, fourth graders, prepare to place an egg into the Jar of yellow dye. The small board with three nails that Stephanie is holding keeps the hollow egg submerged in the dye. ids A Time To Color Easter Eggs egg to pierce and stir up the yolk. Blow into the narrow end and the egg will exit trhough the wide end, which has been enlarged slightly. The inside of the shell should be rinsed with a small amount of clear water. Pat the egg dry with a clean paper towel. Now you are ready to begin app lying a design. Before beginning, make sure your hands are clean; otherwise, you will leave smudges on your egg. Eggs should be at room temper ature and placed in vinegar and water to rinse the shell. The vine- ihlrtsand gar also prepares the shell to accept the dye. An easy way to divide the egg in half is to place a rubber band around the egg and trace around it lightly with a pencil. Use a an instrument that resembles an old-time fountain pen, to apply the wax. The tip of the kistka is heated slightly and beewswx is scooped into its reser voir above its tip. Again heat the kistka slightly and the beeswax will be free flowing. Seal the holes in the egg with the wax. Anything drawn on the egg with the kistka will remain white. The egg is ready to go into it’s first color of dye. This is the light est color of the sequence you wish to use. Take the egg out of the dye and pat dry with a clean paper towel. Use the Idstka to fill in any spaces, lines, designs, etc. whicy you wish to remain yellow. Dye in the next darker color. Now you have some white and yellow pro tected. Continue with the kistka and dye. After the last color is applied, dry the egg for at least 10 minutes. No moisture can be on the egg for the last step. At this point the egg looks rather messy since the beeswax is an ugly greenish-black color. It’s difficult to imagine that this mass of wax is about to be turned into a work of art. The beeswax is removed by heating the egg near the candle flame and wiping off the wax with clean tissues. After the wax is removed, finish the shell with shellac or varnish. This protects the dye. The symbols drawn on the eggs mean different things. For example: • Ribbon—the usual decoration around an egg means eternity. • Dots or circles stars or constellations. • Nets Knowledge in Christian times they symbolize fishing fra* men. ome&* Taryn Lechak with her grandmother Susan Kerekes works on psanky and checks designs during a class held In Johnstown. • Leaf of flower life or growth; beauty and children. • Pine needles suggest long life and health. • Deer and horses wealth and prosperity. • Birds fertility and fulfill ment of wishes. • Spider healing powers and good fortune. • Grapes sign of good harvest. Colors also have symbolic significance. • White purity • Yellow moon and stars; symbolizes successful harvest. • Green spring; freshness. • Blue sky, air, and good health. • Orange endurance and ambition. f 5 %f WORD FIND Dye; Pysanky; Kistka; Egg; Symbol C • Red sun; happiness in life; hope and passion. • Brown coin of earth and harvest • Purple—color of royalty; rep resents faith and trust. • Black darkest time before dawn. Use some of the above symbols to design and color the eggs below. Egg No. 22 White (Turn to Page Bit) Easter, I M O B E J
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers