Ukrainian Easter Art Showcased

Tucked away in a down-at-the-heels 1926 vaudeville/movie house in a less-than-spiffy part of Melrose Avenue, about 20 women were gathered recently around tables painting Easter eggs. Not your average pink, blue and yellow with transfer designs, these eggs have ancient, intricate designs in bold colors--works of art carefully placed on the brittle surface of an eggshell. They’re special for their artistic quality, and they’re special for their historical significance.

Traditional Folk Art

Much of this activity is in preparation for Sunday’s open house, where a selection of things Ukrainian will be on display and for sale from noon to 5 p.m.

Visitors can view hundreds of decorated Easter eggs, ritual breads and watercolors of folk scenes, some by San Francisco artist Katerina Krychevsky Rosandich, as well as other displays, demonstrations and cold buffet foods traditionally served in Ukrainian homes at Easter time. The center is at 4315 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 668-0172.

The front of the building says: Ukrainian Cultural Center; the upstairs rooms are occupied by the Ukrainian Art Center.

Founded in 1980 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1986, the center was established not only to “preserve and develop Ukrainian folk arts . . . but to focus on artists of Ukrainian origin--those who have developed their art abroad as well as those who live, train and work in America.”

According to Daria Chaikovsky, an executive-board member, there are about 20,000 Ukrainians in the area from Ventura County to Orange County, though only about 5,000 are active in Ukrainian pursuits.

The eventual goal is to establish a permanent home for Ukrainian arts on the West Coast. Run completely by volunteers, the center is supported by a core group of 105 members.

However, it is not just a showplace for art; it’s a place for hands-on experience, such as creating beautiful eggs at Easter time.

“We have four distinct programs a year,” Chaikovsky explained. “The first one is the egg painting ( pysanky ), which ends with the Easter holidays. In May, we start the embroidery program, which ends with an exhibit. In September, we have the ceramics course, and in November, we begin the Christmas ornaments.” There are future plans to have culinary classes, music and film programs and possibly folk dancing.

Recently, Adrianna Wrzesniewski taught the beginners in pysanky in one room and her mother, Zenovia, lectured in a smaller room as she kept an eye on her advanced egg-painting class.

“The tiny designs have come (about) with our more sophisticated equipment. The kystka (which holds the wax that lies on the design) was originally a small, hollow bone. The original designs were simpler too--suns, reindeers for food, etc. to give to the gods in spring. The colors also were simpler and more faded. The (symbolism on the) eggs, whose origins go back to pagan times, were then absorbed by the Ukrainians when they accepted Christianity in 988, and the pagan designs took on religious meanings.”

The eggs are done during the Lenten season and are presented during the year for different occasions: births, Christenings, weddings, illnesses and even deaths. Far from being just decorative, the eggs contain a whole message from decorator to receiver. Wrzesniewski explained: “They are a talisman, a wish. Every line means something; every color represents something different.”

Painting Process

The first design placed on an egg, from end to end, is the “everlasting line”; it has no beginning and no end and, according to Wrzesniewski, “It puts your soul and the receiver’s soul into eternity.”

Flowers stand for beauty, leaves for growth, pine cones or pine needles for tears of love; the pine tree itself stands for health. Any part of an animal depicted stands for wealth (antlers or ram’s horns frequently are used) and the more the design is repeated, the more wealth.

As for the colors, yellow (usually the egg is dipped first in the egg-coloring process) represents good harvest, white is purity, red is love, green is for growth (spiritual, physical and mental, as well as plant growth), blue is regal and represents water and the sky, and black is for remembrance.

Wrzesniewski insisted that it takes only two or three eggs to get a handle on this very delicate work, and a few days’ steady work to finish one egg utilizing several colors. Of course, the bigger the egg, the longer the time, up to a week for intricate work on an ostrich egg. The process of coloring is much like batik. As the egg is dyed, brightest colors first, wax is laid over them to keep them from being covered over by succeeding colors, with black, of course, being the last color used. The dyes themselves are alkaline and developed especially for this process. Then the wax is melted off, and underneath lies the glory of a pysanka .

Bernice Boddie of Los Angeles smiled when asked why she took up such painstaking work. “You do have to have patience,” she said, “but this is different and it’s fun. Anything to do with my hands, I want to do it.” Martha Haber from Long Beach agreed: “It is fun--and I love eggs. I’ve done egg crafts for several years.”