E.C. Library Welcomes Pysanky Artist To Annual Makers In Residence Program
get to know Natasha Sutliff Bade's Ukrainian egg decorating during Dabble Box studio hours, youth and adult workshops
Evelyn Nelson, photos by Ethan Kulinski |
For Natasha Sutliff Bade, the newest Maker In Residence at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library (400 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire), spring has always meant more than just the arrival of a new season. It is the time to gather the dyes, beeswax and kistka to create pysanky art.
Having grown up with the tradition of pysanky – Ukrainian egg decorating – Natasha continued practicing the craft with her own family. This June, she will share the creative process, history and rich symbolism of this wax-resist method with the community.
“My mom loves – and I do too – to learn about other cultures and countries, so she kind of adopted traditions from different places,” Natasha said. “We used to do it at home every Easter when I was growing up, so I’ve had a lot of practice.”
This summer in the library’s RCU Dabble Box Makerspace, Natasha will host weekly studio hours and additional workshops for youth, teens and adults. The kids workshop from 10am-12pm on June 13 will target youth in kindergarten through sixth grade (kids under age 8 must be accompanied by a caregiver).
From 10am-12pm on June 20 and 27, Natasha will invite teens and adults for a leveled-up workshop on pysanky art.
With three decades of experience and a current educator in Menomonie, she will bring those same vocational strengths to facilitate the different speeds of these workshops and engage both beginners to more advanced participants.
“It’s like batik ... (the areas of the egg you want to stay white) you cover with wax,” Natasha said.
“You can do a pattern which is two colors … this one has three,” she continued, pointing to one of her dozen completed pysanky eggs – some date back as early as the 1990s (Natasha signs each of her finished eggs with its corresponding year). “If we wanted a white design on a red egg, we could draw everything we want to stay white and then dip it in one color.”
According to Natasha, the art of egg decorating, or the pysanky dates prior to the arrival of Christianity in Eastern Europe.
Stories reveal those who lived in the region, now known as Ukraine, worshiped the sun. Eggs decorated with symbols – akin to the sun and other natural elements – were chosen for worship ceremonies and became an integral signal towards spring, warmth and new growth.
Some countries use a dripping wax method, she said, while others practice a method where they dye the egg and then scratch off the dye to create the design.
Over the years, Natasha has strengthened many of her pysanky techniques thanks to close connections with the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Minneapolis Minn. This small shop provides everything from essential materials and design templates to instructional books with detailed, step-by-step diagrams for more complex patterns.
Whether working with common chicken eggs or larger goose eggs, Natasha aims to share the very same comprehensive guidance for artists at any level.
“I think people are going to like to learn about (pysanky) – I think it's really fun and I think it's relaxing,” Natasha said. “You can dive into (the craft) and leave the other stuff behind.”
We’ll leave it up to Natasha to guide locals through the step-by-step of egg decorating, so consider this your invitation to participate in the free-to-attend workshops offered during this year’s Maker In Residence program at the Eau Claire public library.
Visit the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library (400 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire) calendar online, to view Natasha Sutliff Bade's regular studio hours in the Dabble Box Makerspace through the month of June. Registration is required for the June 13 kids, June 20 and 27 teen plus adults pysanky workshops; visit the calendar webpage to learn more.
