20. Faux Sgraffito & Reverse Colour: A Dive into Non-Traditional Pysanky Techniques - Irene Johnston - Saturday July 20th - 3:30pm to 5:30pm

Do you remember those Crayon drawings we did as children? We scribbled various coloured Crayons on a piece of paper, covered it with black Crayon, then used a sharp object to draw flowers and trees in the rainbow of colours underneath. Faux Sgraffito is the pysanky version, but instead of Crayons, we’ll use our dyes, and in place of a sharp object, we’ll use the kistka.

The Class

• I will teach two versions of this non-traditional style that I’m calling Faux Sgraffito and Reverse Colour Pysanky. Each provides different, but beautiful results.
• There’s no measuring, no designs to follow, let your imagination run wild.

Materials Provided:

• I will provide a selection of eggs that are already sponged with a rainbow of dye colours so you can begin working on your Faux Sgraffito designs.

• I will provide some eggs dyed a single colour so you can try the Reverse Colour Pysanky too.

• I will also provide some blank eggs, brushes and sponges so you can try it on a blank egg.

Please Bring:

• One or two thicker tipped electric kistky - medium or heavy is probably best to get the hang of this technique.
  
• Extra eggs if you'd like
• Beeswax

Maximum 25 students

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About Irene:

Irene currently resides in Oshawa where her parents settled after coming to Canada after the Second World War. She has been an active member of the Ukrainian community, UCWLC and the Eparchy of Toronto for over ten years. For her dedication to volunteerism in the community, she received the inaugural Ontario Trillium Award from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Ontario Provincial Council in September 2022.

Irene has been exhibiting her pysanky with her sisters, Maria and Doris, and daughter, Melanka for over 30 years at various art galleries, libraries and community groups. Although she enjoys many creative pursuits, from drawing to creative writing, and storytelling, her true passion is Pysanky. She learned at a young age from her mother, who learned from her own mother; Irene’s daughter and granddaughter have also learned the art form. In fact, Irene has teamed up with her daughter, Melanie, as “Sim’ya Designs”, to attend Ukrainian festivals across Ontario, and as artisans at one of North America’s largest handmade markets - the One Of A Kind craft show in Toronto.

Irene creates Pysanky with traditional designs, specializing in intricate geometric patterns, as influenced from western Ukraine motifs (where her parents were from). Her Pysanka mastery includes other techniques, such as wax resist, sgrafitto, etched, carved, engraved, silk dyed and chiyogami paper wrapped. She divides her time between her part-time job, volunteering, and exploring new techniques in creating pysanky. Irene also enjoys spending time with her family including her four cats.

Contact: Facebook & Instagram: @simyadesigns