Decorating Eggs

Exquisite Designs with Wax & Dye

Author:  Jane Pollak

Edition:  1st

Format:  Large format paperback

Pages:  125         

Language:  English

Illustrations:  Many, color

Publisher:  Sterling Publishing Company  (New York, 1998)

Availability:  Yes (out of print)

Acquired:  Amazon

ISBN:  0-8069-9413-4

Jane Pollak once created some of the most amazing modern non-traditional pysanky I had seen.  She is not Ukrainian, and most of her eggs are not Ukrainian, either.  But they are gorgeous.

This is a how-to book about making gorgeous pysanka-style (wax-resist/batik) eggs.  Jane discusses techniques, has a photo of her home workbench (below), and gives good step-by-step instructions with photo illustrations. 

She has lovely photos of her work, and shows how she has adapted designs from lace, fabrics (below), quilts (examples on the cover), pottery and other sources.  Much of her work looks quite modern and fresh.

Designs adapted from an Indian Paisley scarf

Jane also shows how to create jewelry from decorated eggs shells, and suggests some non-traditional uses for pysanky (place cards, business card holders).  Jane used to sell her work on a web site; a few years ago the pysanka section disappeared, and all that remains is her current passion: giving motivational entrepreneurial talks to struggling businesswomen.

It is a nice and relatively inexpensive book for anyone who is interested in the crafting aspects of pysankarstvo; everyone but the most hardcore traditionalists will enjoy looking at it. The book is out of print now, but can be found on line, and through many Amazon resellers.  There is also a hardcover version available.

Asian-inspired designs

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