Horse at Pasture

This pysanka is based on a diasporan design featured in a UGS postcard. I changed a few of the elements.

Reindeer Games I

My own design completed for a holiday exchange. I got to experiment with a modern swirling division while retaining some traditional elements like deer and eight-pointed stars.

Crosses and Stars

Adapted from a diasporan pysanka featured on a UGS postcard. I've changed many of the details but kept the overall division and color scheme.

More Embossed Drop-Pull

These designs with "embossed" colored waxes are loosely based off of dyed drop-pull pysanky featured in Larry Kozlowski's compilation of Slavic patterns.

Bukovynian Folk Pysanky

Reproduced from Vira Manko's The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka (Table 19, No. 31), Chernivtsi Province. This pysanka features ornate crosses within the "sakvy," or "saddlebags" division.

Reproduced from Vira Manko's The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka (Table 21, No. 30), Chernivtsi Pronvince. This pysanka features typical and "broken" ("svarha") crosses and crosshatching ("resheto") in a diagonal division. Notice also the wave pattern ("bezkonechnyk") along the outer boundary.

Reproduced from Vira Manko's The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka (Table 20, No. 30), Chernivtsi Province. This pysanka is divided into eighths by six cross motifs and features crosshatching ("resheto"). The crosshatched triangle is a rain symbol.

Reproduced from Zenon Elyjiw's Sixty Score of Easter Eggs (Table 9, No. 8). This pysanka is divided into fourths by two cross motifs (not visible, but located on the sides of the egg). Featured in the four sections is probably a goddess motif, resembling a snake with wings. The prominent "S" shape with no curls could also denote Zmyia, or the god of earth, who is also featured as a serpent.

Reproduced from Zenon Elyjiw's Sixty Score of Easter Eggs (Table 59, No. 10). Elyiw calls this division "six roses" as it results in six eight-pointed stars evenly spaced over the surface of the egg.

The ethnohistorical region of Bukovyna is located in the eastern Carpathian Mountain region and is currently split between Ukraine and Romania. This region constituted a part of medieval Moldavia, became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the northern region (most of which is Chernivtsi Oblast) was annexed to Ukraine by the Soviet Union in the 1940's. Historically, the northern region has been ethnically mixed, including Ukrainians (many of them Hutsuls), Romanians, and Poles. 

Bukovynian pysanky are famous for their complexity and use of greens and blues. They often feature cross motifs and diagonal bands. The Hutsul influences are clear in the intricate patterning. 

These pysanky were featured in the class I recently taught at the Pysanky USA retreat.

Tree of Life with Horses

A modified diasporan design from a UGS postcard. The band is my own contribution.

Two Moons ("Embossed" Style Drop-Pull)

This design with "embossed" colored waxes is loosely based off of a dyed drop-pull pysanka featured in Larry Kozlowski's compilation of Slavic patterns.

Tree of Life with Birds

My own design in a diasporan style.

Variation on Sheaves of Wheat

This is a variation on a classic diasporan design published in Eggs Beautiful (Egg #17). I posted a rendition of this design way back in 2012.

Folk Pysanky from Central Ukrainian Regions

Reproduced from "Magpie Feet" from Vira Manko's The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka (Table 35, No. 19), Poltava Province. Poltava is known for its brighter colors, particularly green, yellow, and red. This pysanka is divided into eighths and utilizes a motif, also common in other regions, of diagonally placed botanical or geometric subjects. Here, the subject looks like flowers but the name associated with the pattern suggests otherwise!

Reproduced from "Bokova Rozha" or "Side Rose" from  Zenon Elyjiw's Sixty Score of Easter Eggs (Table 25, No. 3), Kyiv Province. Pysanka from Kyiv tend to favor the yellow, red, black color scheme and feature both geometrical and plant motifs. "Rose" is only used in the abstract sense, even the word "Rozha" actually translates to mallow flower. The "side rose" division divides the pysanka first in two with a median line, and then the resulting two spaces into eight wedges. I wish I had also photographed the side of this pysanka, as it features kucheri, or "curls." 

Reproduced from Vira Manko's The Ukrainian Folk Pysanka (Table 38, No. 6), Kirovohrad province. This pysanka is divided into eighths with a cross pattern. On top of that, it almost resembles a "side rose" turned so that the "roses" face the top and the bottom of the egg (again, wish I took a picture of that view). The pink color may be too pink here for a true reproduction, with the original photograph looking slightly more red.

These pysanky were featured in the class I recently taught at the Pysanky USA retreat. They are not exactly great representatives of their provinces, but were chosen with the intention of introducing the students to many different folk divisions as well as different ethnographic regions in Ukraine.

Golden Flowers ("embossed" style drop-pull)

This design with "embossed" colored waxes is loosely based off of a dyed drop-pull pysanka featured in Larry Kozlowski's compilation of Slavic patterns. 

Cross with Flowers and Pussy Willow

Modified from a diasporan design featured in a UGS postcard.

Crosses

This pysanka is slightly modified from one featured in Ukrainian Easter Eggs and How We Make Them. It features two kinds of crosses, the typical cross, which looks like a t,  and the "sloping cross" or "St. Andrew's Cross," which looks like an X. Both of these symbols have meanings in the pagan and Christian traditions.

Mock "Scratch" Pysanka

One type of Easter egg in the polish tradition is skrobanki, or scratched eggs. Here, I've adapted a skrobanka featured in Jerzy Lipka's book, Almost Everything about Eggs, but used the batik (wax and dye) techniques. In a typical skrobanka, the white lines would be the deepest scratches, and the yellow lines would be lighter scratches.

Blue Flower Bouquet ("embossed" style drop-pull)

This design with "embossed" colored waxes is loosely based off of a dyed drop-pull pysanka featured in Larry Kozlowski's compilation of Slavic patterns.