Pysanka At Booth LIBRARY

By Shannon Hicks

Olga Paproski is very proud of her heritage.

Anyone who has met Mrs Paproski, who has lived for years at 5 Hattertown Road — where she annually hosts Ukrainian Easter Egg workshops in the spring and, for the past 29 years, a Ukrainian Festival each August — is quick to pick up on how important her background and family history are to her. She seems to always be proud to talk about the Ukraine, its traditions and culture, and her upbringing.

Mrs Paproski speaks with a thick accent picked up during childhood. Although she was born in the United States, Mrs Paproski’s family returned to the Ukraine when she was 3 years old and remained there for nearly two decades before returning to the US in 1938.

Mrs Paproski arrived in Newtown in 1944, when she married Sam Paproski, who was at the time the proprietor of Castle Hill Farm. The Paproskis lived in the Castle Hill Farm’s farmhouse on Sugar Lane for more than 50 years. Today Mrs Paproski lives in the house at 5 Hattertown Road where the family’s tree farm is located, and it is her son Steve and his family who live in the Sugar Lane house.

This month Mrs Paproski is sharing an important part of her identity with visitors to C.H. Booth Library. An exhibition on view at the library celebrates the intricate art of creating Pysanka, or Easter eggs in the Ukrainian style. The collection, simply called “Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs By Olga Paproski,” is on view in the display cases near the children’s department (near the elevator and stairwell), and will remain there until at least April 16.

A Pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, “to write,” as the designs are not painted but written onto the shell with bees’ or another form of wax. (The plural for Pysanka is Pysanky or Pysankas). Pysanky are raw eggs decorated using a stylus, called a kistka.

The display case is filled primarily with examples of Pysanka of varying ages and sizes. There are ceramic and wooden eggs, as well as ostrich, goose, duck, turtle, and pigeon eggs also covered with the intricate styling of Pysanka, an art form that demands planning ahead for the artisan. There are also a few beaded eggs that mimic the decorative style of Pysanky.

“You always have to plan ahead,” Mrs Paproski said last week, looking once more over the contents of the display case and the placement of her collection. “You have to decide where you want colors to be, two and three steps ahead, because you don’t add the color as you are decorating the egg, but you take away the color as you work.”

Mrs Paproski was born in Youngstown, Ohio, where she lived the first three years of her life, and learned the art of Pysanka from her mother.

“It used to be a very big secret,” she said last week, “shared only among family generations.

“When I came here I felt it was time to share this art, and I was one of the first people to do that in this area,” she said. “People were asking me why I was doing this and I told them: It should be shared. It’s very special, but it doesn’t have to be hidden. I wanted more people to understand and celebrate Pysanka.”

On view are eggs that date back just a year or two, some that are more than a decade in age, and others that are more than a half-century old. One of the eggs on view is 62 years old, which seems incredible considering the extremely fragile canvas on which the work is done. All of the works are from the personal collection of Mrs Paproski, who is very involved The Ukrainian Cultural Organization of Greater Danbury.

“If cared for, they last for a long time,” said Mrs Paproski.

Pysanky often are very geometric in nature, which visitors to the library will notice immediately. Symbolic ornamentation is important and fairly simple graphics make it easy for even the youngest artists to adorn their creations with effective elements. Poppies, a beloved Ukrainian motif, symbolize joy and beauty. Additional symbols and their meanings, according to Ukrainian Design Book 1, include ladders for prosperity or prayer; fish for Christianity; crosses for Christ, or the four corners of the world; wheat for wishes of good health and a good harvest; and curls or spirals for defense or protection.

Triangles represent trinities (air, fire and water; Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Heaven, Earth and Hall); birds represent the fulfillment of wishes and fertility (birds are always shown at rest, never flying); nets represent Christ’s reference of becoming “fishers of people”; and a saw represents fire or life-giving heat (while a similar design, called Wolves’ Teeth, symbolizes loyalty and wisdom).

Similarly, colors can also play a large role in the creation of Pysanka. White can stand for purity, innocence and/or birth; red means happiness in life, hope, passion and/or the sun; green is for spring, new growth and/or hope; blue is for the sky, including its life-giving air, and also for good health; black is for eternity, and the darkest time before the dawn; orange can mean strength, endurance or the eternal sun; and yellow is reserved for light, purity, youth, happiness, and even hostility.

Even having an egg in one’s home is symbolic.

“To have at least one egg in the house, believe Ukrainians, is a sign of good luck,” Mrs Paproski explained.

While Mrs Paproski’s presentation certainly is dominated by the Pysanky she has created and collected for decades, one section of the display case has been set up with the items that would be placed on a traditional Ukrainian table for Easter. There are candles, pussy willow (which is placed out for Palm Sunday), salt (in a shaker designed to look like Pysanka); Kroshonka, the hard-boiled eggs to be blessed and then eaten on Easter Sunday; and a basket holding a loaf of Paska, the Ukrainian bread for Easter.

A table would also include horseradish and other foods, but Mrs Paproski did not want to offend any of the library’s visitors or staff.

“I would have put out some kielbasa and cabbage but I didn’t think the library would appreciate the smell,” she said with a laugh.

Additional items on view include Ukrainian figurines and a plate depicting a lady in traditional Ukrainian garments.

Interested in trying your hand at creating Pysanka? Mrs Paproski will host a Pysanka demonstration and workshop this weekend — on Sunday, April 1 — from 2 to 4 pm at her home. The workshop is open to all ages (families are encouraged) and is being sponsored by The Ukrainian Cultural Organization of Greater Danbury.

Participants will learn about the ancient and beautiful Pysanka — its history, traditions, and symbols — and will make a Pysanka using the traditional wax resist technique utilizing the kistka, beeswax, and dyes. Mrs Paproski will also talk about the Ukrainian Easter traditions and foods.

Supplies needed to make the Pysanky will be available for purchase at the workshop for a nominal fee. There is also a $5 donation requested for each participant. Each attendee needs to bring with them two or three white, whole, raw eggs (unblemished and at room temperature); two short candles (6 inches maximum, used is fine, no votives); a low candleholder; a soft leaded pencil; and a small towel. To register or for additional information call Mrs Paproski at 426-4017 or Frances Ruppell, 748-5521.