On the eve of the bright Resurrection of Christ, for one day the reading room of the Central City Library named after M.L. Kropyvnytskyi simultaneously turned into a workshop for Easter egg painting, a center for the exchange of creative experience and friendly communication among like-minded people.
An atmosphere of creativity, incredible attention to regular readers and guests of the library, goodness and goodwill was created by the honored master of folk art, a well-known artist in Ukraine and far beyond its borders - an Easter egg maker, a member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine, Tetiana Uliankina.
The woman devoted 30 years of her life to Easter egg painting. The opportunity to do her favorite thing appeared at a conscious age, after the birth of her daughter. It all started with a passion for drawing during her school years. However, the mother of the future Honored Master of Folk Art had her own views on the fate and profession of the girl. So she got into a class with in-depth study of mathematics. Later she received an engineering profession. The historical period of that time did not contribute to the study of traditions. It was possible to change the vector diametrically after the turbulent events of the late 80s and early 90s.
“So, I followed the path of folk art. I was engaged in decorative painting. I went to the school of folk craftsmanship at the Mykolaiv branch of the Union of Folk Art Masters of Ukraine, which was formed here in 1991. And my teacher, Svitlana Kazhyna, who taught us decorative painting, says: “And I can also make pysanky. If necessary, then…” Because I took a course in decorative painting. When we saw what it was, here in the south of Ukraine, where no one had even heard of it. So, of course, we agreed,” recalls the craftswoman.
From that moment on, nothing brought the craftswoman such pleasure, a sense of harmony, and inner balance as Easter egg painting. Tatiana Uliankina mastered all the varieties and techniques of this ancient art form. Among other things - restoration.
"This is a very complex technique. That is, the finished egg is already painted, you break the finished egg in half, glue it with paper from the inside. You can also add sawdust there. You need to make some kind of fastening material. And then you connect it. So that it is not even visible where you connected it," notes Tatiana Uliankina.
If now any textbook is available to a wide audience of users on the World Wide Web, then there were problems with this. For a long time, pani Tetiana had to subscribe to a magazine published by the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. It was called “Pysanka”.
"I met many famous pysanka makers there. And foreign ones. Because, as I said, everything was forbidden here. Especially here in the south. Somewhere in western Ukraine they did a little bit. But they made more decorative ones. Such souvenir pysanky. And they didn't even make classic pysanky, they painted them on wooden eggs. There are some ornaments there that are more or less similar to traditional ones," says pani Tetiana.
Today, any base is suitable for it: duck and goose, chicken and ostrich eggs. Depending on the choice, the composition and symbolism, as well as the processing technology, will vary.
"By the way, I also see ostrich eggs now. Many people work with them. Everyone chooses their own path there too. For example, I use vinegar etching. And then I paint the planes that I create. And most of them are so original. Because I already paint the whole world there," emphasizes the craftswoman.
Tatiana Uliankina is the author of a unique technology of using elements of Tavria painting in Easter egg making. The craftswoman has thought through everything down to the smallest detail. In particular, the watercolor-batik method was used when painting.
"That is, I draw the lines traditionally with wax. And then we paint them with different shades of blue. This is inherent in Tavria painting. We also paint this pysanka with a brush," says Tatiana Uliankina.
There will be love in the world as long as people write Easter eggs. Fortunately, thanks to Tatiana Uliankina, ancient traditions are being revived. Under her watchful eye, regular readers of the library plunged into the meditative atmosphere of the ancient craft. The crackling of a candle flame, the smell of wax, and the birth of bizarre images in fragile, female hands added a special magic to the process.
"Today we are studying traditions and mastering a very interesting, folk art form, such as creating pysanka - travlenka. We apply the drawing with vinegar, using wax, and then etch the natural color of the eggshell. We have known pani Tetiana for about twenty years. I have had the honor of working all this time with a famous Easter egg maker. And this is important to me. After all, when you work with such specialists, you improve yourself every time as a specialist. And you also understand how important it is to convey all this information," emphasized the head of the Cultural and Artistic Association "Art-Spokusa" Valentyna Kryvtsova.
Only great love can create such miracles of harmony and imagination. Each pysanka by Tatiana Uliankina is a planet in which everything is depicted and created in a certain order to maintain order and balance in the entire Universe.
