Pysanky Class at Castle in the air

On Thursday I had the pleasure of teaching Pysanky - the Ukrainian wax resist egg dyeing technique to 8 lovely ladies. I love crafting in a group, because you get so many multi-facetted results. It was truly inspiring to see the different styles of decoration everybody created!

Pysanky- The Artful Easter Egg

My pysanky eggs are on display in the Castle's class sample glass case. They are being guarded by this lovely crepe paper bird made by Aimee Baldwin, who teaches a class on how to make this beautiful songbird basket.
The Castle's John McRae surprised me with a gift of goose eggs. I immediately set out and transformed them into Pysanky. Easter trees are traditional in Europe. You hang eggs as ornaments from branches. This is such a wonderful way to welcome spring.
From Indian Paisley to Dandelions and Feathers: I like to come up with patterns and images that are usually not associated with Easter eggs.
The wax-resist technique lends itself well to creating a dandelion or drawing the spidery lines of a peacock feather.




Making Pysanky eggs is a wonderful communal activity. It is one of these crafts that lend itself to sitting around a table with your family and friends busying yourself with embellishing your egg, while enjoying good conversation. I invited John McRae, my college and a talented teacher at Castle in the air over for a Pysanky afternoon. We enjoyed the relaxing afternoon, crafting together and exchanging ideas. John had earlier suprised me with a gift of goose eggs, which are so hard to come by. So naturally we were itching to transform a goose egg. It is double in size from a regular large chicken egg and gives you therefore a bigger canvas to work on. I love how John thought outside the box and embellished his goose egg with the image of an octopus. But then it must be actually no surprise that John had octopus on his mind,because he just recently created a fabulous one for his up-coming "Magical Octopus" class at the Castle.
John's Octopus Goose Egg

I found a new home at Castle In The Air

It's been a long time that I have posted on this blog and I am excited to tell you some good news. Kozo Arts, where I started teaching classes last October closed it's doors at the end of the year. It was sad, because I enjoyed the collaboration with Kozo, using their beautiful Chiyogami papers for my classes and products. But when one chapter closes another one opens and so true to this saying, a new opportunity presented itself for me in February. I found a new creative home at the fabulous Castle In The Air, on 4th Street in Berkeley! I have adored this store for many years and have taken many classes in it's studio. They have an amazing selection of German Dresden Trim, lovely wrapping papers and elegant writing supplies, to name just a few items. I have learned so much from the amazing teachers who give lessons in the Castle's studio. I studied with the inspirational Alice Armstrong stamp carving and book making, I created magical 3-dimensional objects with the highly creative Ulla Milbrath, learned how to use elegant Dresden trim from the talented and kind John McRae and attended Spencerian Scrip Calligraphy lessons by master calligrapher Bill Kemp there.
I am so very happy to work now in this magical store about once a week, as well as teaching a brand-new class there:
Pysanky - Artful Ukrainian Eggs
The simple egg, in both Pagan and Christian springtime rituals, symbolizes the magical rebirth of life. Pysanky are stunning, intricately decorated eggs whose patterns are achieved through the ancient technique of wax resist dyeing. Using a special stylus, you’ll learn how to draw on an egg with melted beeswax and how to layer gem-colored, water-soluble dyes for a brilliant effect. Elisabeth will bring a variety of traditional and modern patterns for inspiration, and will talk about different ways to display your artful eggs. They look particularly lovely nestled in a bed of moss. You’ll make at least 2 eggs in the class.

Fee: $75; includes materials.

Instructor: Elisabeth Alexander. Limit: 10 students.

Thursday, March 25th, 6pm-9pm

Sign up here.

Also check out the Castle's blog here!