Egg-Ceptional
Beauty
Penn Hills resident carries on centuries-old tradition of Ukrainian egg art .
BY DAVID GOLEBIEWSKI
M arilan Caito fondly recalls gathering at the kitchen table with her mother , Helen , and a handful of neighbors on the weekends . They would pray for a steady hand and a steady eye , and then they would practice “ pysanky ”— a style of Ukrainian egg artwork that dates back more than 1,000 years .
Caito , a Penn Hills resident who is of Carpatho Rusyn descent , has served more than 30 years as an instructor of Ukrainian Easter Egg classes at local colleges and community centers in the Pittsburgh region . On April 6 from 6 to 7 p . m ., Caito will hold an egg painting demonstration at the Penn Hills Library . If there is sufficient enrollment , she will conduct three two-hour sessions on May 4 , 11 and 18 at the same location . All sessions are free and open to the public .
“ Everyone has at least one God-given talent ,” Caito says . “ I can ’ t sing or dance , but I can paint eggs . Teaching is a way for me to keep alive something that ’ s so special and unique , and share it with as many people as I can . When I ’ m sharing it , I can feel my mother with me . I think that she would be proud .”
The word pysanky derives from the verb pysaty , which means “ to write .” In the pysanky tradition , you use a tool called a “ kiska ” and melted beeswax to create elaborate , often geometric , designs in a variety of colors . The pysanky style favors shades of white , yellow , orange , red and black .
“ You take a white egg and draw a basic design ,” Caito explains .
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