Easter Egg Painting with Beeswax
Here at The Beeswax Co., we get excited when spring is in the air. Winter gets a little lonely without the bees buzzing around. For us there’s no better way to welcome spring than through Easter celebrations. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, the fun Easter décor will get you in the mood for spring. Bright pastel colors, piles of goodies, and fluffy Easter bunnies are a magical combination. Let’s not forget the adventurous thrill of the egg hunt that keeps every kid on their toes. Today, we often use plastic eggs to hide little goodies. But in the past, people maintained an old tradition of hand-decorating eggs to celebrate Easter. These decorated eggs, known as pysanka, rely on beeswax for their complex designs, and are a fun craft to try this Easter holiday.
What Are Pysanky?
Pysanky are raw eggs that have been decorated with batik, an ancient wax-resist technique that originates in the Ukraine. Ironically, this technique for decorating eggs pre-dates Christian times. This historical art makes use of symbolic meanings. Many common symbols’ interpretations have actually shifted as religion has changed. Symbols like triangles and fish, which once represented old gods, have been reinterpreted to represent entities from Christian beliefs.
Polish pysanky artist Jolanta Kliszcz painted her first eggs with her mother during Easter. Nine years ago, she was looking for something to relieve her stress and fell in love with pysanky. Painting eggs teaches Jolanta patience, gives her joy, and amazes her with pleasant surprises. She treasures the moments when she removes the beeswax from the egg and the final design is revealed. I don’t know about you, but seeing her bright and beautiful egg creations sure makes me want to try pysanky for myself. Who needs a golden egg, when one of these painted egg treasures could be used instead?!
Getting Started
To try the art of pysanky yourself, you’ll need an egg, pure beeswax, dye, a candle, and a kitska (a small stylus tool—you can learn how to make your own here). Prepare the egg by blowing out the yolk. Then plan the design for your egg. The areas that are covered with wax will not be dyed with any new colors, so plan your steps carefully. When you’re ready to begin drawing your design, heat your kitska with the candle flame. Dip the hot kitska into your wax and scoop it into the funnel. You’re now ready to write. Draw your design on your egg with the melted wax. Then dip your egg in dye and let it sit. Once you have your desired color, you can remove your egg and repeat the drawing process. Keep building up layers until you have completed your design. To remove the wax, hold your egg near the flame of the candle until the wax can be rubbed off. That’s it! We love how easy it is to get really detailed designs with this method. The results can be versatile and it’s a great way to test your creativity.
Need supplies for Easter? Check out our shop for bulk beeswax and 100% pure beeswax candles. And if you use our beeswax in your Easter celebrations, please drop us a line and let us know on our Facebook and Instagram.
A big thank you to Jolanta Kliszcz for the beautiful pictures of her art work, and for sharing with us about her beloved craft using beeswax. Visit her on Instagram and let her know know you heard about her on our blog.