Mary's Eggs

I turn regular eggs into art!  The art form is called PYSANKY.  Pysanky means "to write" and that is part of the process: I write on the egg to create the design.    

All of my eggs are made with a wax and dye process.  My eggs are not painted as many people think.  I start with a white egg and sketch out my design using a pencil; anything I want to stay white, I then use a special tool that holds wax and acts like a tiny funnel so that when it is heated the melted wax comes out the bottom.  I can draw anything with that hot wax.  After I have the spots I want to stay white covered in wax, I put the egg in a jar of dye (usually yellow) until it reaches the desired shade of that color and then I use the tool with the hot wax to cover the spots I want to stay yellow, then I move on to the other dyes and keep doing that process until I have all the colors I want.  After that I remove all of the wax using a hot air gun and then the egg gets several coats of polyurethane.   It is a fairly long process.  Most of my eggs take anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours to complete the dye and wax process, depending on the intricacy of the design.  Some eggs can take as long as 8 to 12 hours.

 All of my eggs come in a gift box with a stand and a brochure that explains the significance of the symbolism of the colors and designs.