12. Measuring Up: A Confidence-Building Class for Beginners & Intermediates - Irene Chewchuk - Friday July 19th - 1:00pm to 3:00pm

This class is aimed at beginners and intermediate pysanky artists who want to take their writing to a new level. Do you look at pictures of pysanky and think, “This is too hard, I can’t do this”? Measuring Up will teach you how to take that picture and translate it onto the egg without the benefit of the step-by-step instructions we find in books. Do you have trouble seeing the basic division of an egg? Ever wonder how wide to make your side bands or how high to make the diamonds along your egg’s equator? How do people get all the design elements lined up so perfectly? This class is for you.

What Is Measuring Up?

• Using a pysanka from Zoya Stashuk #1 - Stars (the folio is available to purchase at Ukrainian Eggcessories), we’ll learn how to turn that picture into a pysanka. Middle egg in the class picture here is the egg we’ll work on, the others are variations of that division to show you what’s possible.
• The egg I’ve selected for the class is rather complicated and there are lots of elements, but we’ll walk through it step by step and learn how to set up your pencil lines so you can get to work with your kistka.
• You’ll learn various methods of measuring and laying out your pencil guidelines on the egg using both a lathe and quilling paper with the paper strip chart fromEndless Egging(also available to buy at Ukrainian Eggcessories).
• We will not get to the waxing phase, but you will leave with a heap of how-to’s that you can put in your design tool box to complete this and other eggs.

What to Bring

• A couple of large chicken eggs, if you have a goose egg bring that, a larger canvas can be easier to start with.

• A lathe if you have one

• A measuring tape, pencil, quilling paper, and a compass would be helpful.

• A copy of Endless Egging would be nice, but we can share whatever books are available inthe class.

• I will provide quilling paper and some extra pencils and measuring tapes.

About Irene Chewchuk

My pysanka journey began almost 60 years ago in the basement of St. Volodymir Cathedral in Toronto. While attending Ukrainian school I was invited to join a couple of ladies in one of the church halls. They introduced me to the art of writing pysanky

I immediately asked my parents to buy me a kistka, beeswax and a few dyes. My father built a wax melting apparatus using a board, utility light fixture, coat hanger and soup cans. Armed with these tools and basic knowledge of the process, I began creating pysanky with varied success. Over time I collected books, cards and magazines depicting various styles and designs of eggs which have inspired me to try various techniques and patterns. More recently having had the opportunity to volunteer at the Pysanka Toronto 2023 Retreat and explore various artist posts on the internet has provided a great source of information, instruction, and inspiration.  

I have written pysanky on quail, guinea, chicken, duck, turkey, goose, swan, rhea and ostrich eggs. My family are my greatest supporters who encourage me to further my skills. In particular I am grateful to my husband who finds and obtains egg varieties from all over southern Ontario.

When I’m not writing pysanky, I enjoy sewing, embroidering, crocheting, knitting, quilting, quilling and painting