With Easter just around the corner, I'm excited to break out all my tools to make some eggs. It's also time to break out eggs from years past (sans gooey contents, of course) and admire their beauty.
For the egg above, I layered rubber bands, dropped the egg in a dye, then added more rubber bands, removed others and dyed in a darker color. I love the areas where the dye slightly eeks through and mingles with the undercoat.
In recent years, I've learned of an egg decorating technique known as Pysanka, a traditional Ukrainian folk craft. The process involves using a stylus to draw melted wax onto the egg, dropping it in the lightest color, adding more wax, dropping it into the next lightest, and so on. At the end, you hold the egg above a candle flame and wipe the wax away with a paper towel. The wax buffs the design and gives you an egg that goes far beyond the Paas wax crayon. Last year, I had just received a bevy of insect identification books and incorporated my new interest into the eggs.
This moth design wraps around the entire egg, making it a little difficult to photograph. Its coloring seems owl-like to me and I enjoyed making an egg with such un-Easter-like coloring.
Another favorite technique involves using patterned silk from old ties and transferring the pattern onto the egg. Very dramatic! Here's instructions from who else but Marta Stewart.
Maybe this year I'll do a pop-art version of a Cadbury egg. Mmmmm, one of the many reasons I love Easter! Hint, hint my dear Easter bunny friend!
I am so impressed: Those are the most spectacular eggs I've ever seen. Well done! They're definitely artworks that you don't want to destroy in the process of getting to the egg innards.
ReplyDeleteThey're amazing! I thought the blue egg in your first picture was stunning...but as I read further, they're all stunning! A far cry from the average Paas dyed eggs! I love the bee you did using the Pysanka technique. Just gorgeous!
ReplyDelete