Hello! Welcome to episode 111 of I’d Rather Stay In. This week, we’re joined by pysanky artist Stephanie Cheeseman as she shares how she connects with her Ukrainian heritage.

Quick links

• Follow Stephanie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pysankysteph/
• Get Stephanie’s Paska recipe
• Donate to support RAZOM for Ukraine
• Purchase a custom pysanka to support Ukraine
• Stephanie’s feature in the Washington Post
• Stephanie’s feature on CBS News

Episode transcript

Megan
Welcome to I’d rather stay in with Megan Myers and Stephie Predmore. This week we’re chatting about preserving and celebrating your heritage with our special guest Stephanie Cheeseman. Stay tuned.

Stephie
Do you love listening to I’d rather stay in and want to support the podcast? Well, now you can visit our website or the LinkedIn or Instagram profile and click Buy me a coffee or visit buy me a coffee.com/irsipodcast. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can help us cover the costs of creating this podcast. There are no monthly memberships, and you could support us at whatever level you like, whenever you like, whether you buy us one coffee, many coffees or simply continue listening as always, we’re so grateful for your support. Hello, Megan,

Megan
hi, Stephie.

Stephie
So the last couple of weeks at daycare they’ve been doing a lot of well, obviously last week was Earth Day. So they did a lot of Earth Day activities. And the week before they were doing a lot of like gardening and like talking about plants and how plants grow and all of these things. And all of the kids had like a little seed that they like germinated in the window, and then they put all of the little germinated seeds in like little egg carton cups and with their names on them and then sent them home. So I currently have a little plant growing in a little egg carton cup in our kitchen windowsill. And I have no idea what the what the hell it is. It is a mystery plant. I’m like, what do we think this is?

Megan
I would say it is probably a bean. Because that like they grow so fast. Yeah,

Stephie
the seed looks, beanish. Uh huh. And I’m like, but I don’t know, like anything else. So it’s just the window because I don’t want to throw it out. You know, you and I have talked about like, if a thing is growing, and I know it’s not a weed. I feel bad. Tossing it or like killing it in any way. So it’s just growing. I need to put it in a little pot or put it outside or do something with it. But I have a mystery daycare plant it.

Megan
related. I found out the other day that in my son’s class, they have been incubating chickens. And I didn’t know he only just told us told me see today’s Wednesday. Don’t man hold that information. He told me on Monday, he said the first chicken hatch and I said What are you talking about?

Stephie
They’ve been doing that at daycare, too. Except that’s like the whole like the whole school school. Yeah. Preschool thing. Yeah. So it’s like in the lobby, they’ve had 12 little eggs incubating and the first one hatched. It hatched the other day, right as I was picking her up. And so we stopped and we watched it. And it was like, it was like mostly out of its shell. But it was still like coming out of its little shell. And she was like fascinated, and then it chirped and it like, scared. It like jolted and she was like, it was like what it had it’s like weird dinosaur feet. And she like hid herself in my stomach. And I was like, okay, when we come back tomorrow, there’ll be fluffy and cute. Yeah. So she was she wasn’t too traumatized, because she was still talking about the baby chickens when we pulled into the house, but she was like,

Megan
yeah, he said that they I think they had 12 as well. And so they had some eggs where they thought weren’t going to hatch and one of them did hatch and I guess all but a couple hatched now. So they’re, they have many chickens. But he was telling me about the first one. And he was telling me how noisy it was.

Stephie
Oh, they are really noisy. I’m

Megan
impatient peeped and, like, just forever. I’m like, it must be very, very disruptive to the classroom. But it still seems very excited. And I could not believe that you did not tell me they had chickens because I would have loved to hatch chickens in a classroom when I was a kid.

Stephie
Totally. It’s fine. I’ve never watched it. And so I was like, even after Eden was like, kind of freaked out and buried her head in my stomach. I was like, No, we’re gonna stand here a couple more minutes, because this is fascinating. I didn’t. I also did not realize how loud they were when they hatch. So also Alex was like, what would what do they do with the chickens? And that was my question too. I don’t know, I assume. I mean, I would assume they know someone who like has like keeps chickens and they’ll just go be like yard or farm chickens somewhere.

Megan
According to my son. They go back to the place where the eggs came from, and they will grow and become eaten. I don’t know That’s true, but this is the story that he’s made up in his mind

Stephie
that his logical x, it is logical knowing Max, I’m not surprised that that was the turn that that story took.

Megan
He’s a very practical child.

Stephie
He is such a practical child I chose even though Eden was not listening to this. Alex has had such a tender look on his little face when he said what do they do with the chickens? That I said, you know, they probably go live on a farm or in somebody’s yard for eggs.

Megan
Alex, your chef, I’m sure that

Stephie
he probably was thinking maybe they get eaten but are a little hearts just couldn’t take it. So I just decided to go with the the farm answer. It worked for me. So anyway, I love I love it. Tis tis the season for chickens. My, when my mom was growing up, they used to always get chicken eggs and duck eggs. And invariably, some creature would like get half the chickens or half the ducks. But they did have several ducks that made it to adulthood, one of which hated my mom’s older brother and would chase him around and then they would yell and her name was Ellen. And she would like chase my uncle like onto the like the counters like the bathroom countertop, and who you’d like yellow for my mom or my younger uncle. And one of them would come in and they’d go, Ellen lay an egg lay an egg Ellen and she would like squat. Like she was laying an egg and then they could pick her up and like take her outside. So that’s the story of Ellen the duck.

Megan
Inside duck, Okay,

Stephie
Ellen inside duck, it’s you know, it’s whatever. My my mom grew up with a lot of creatures around the house, they rescued all sorts of things. So you know, there you go. Wow, is there is that there is that little family history for you, which segues wonderfully into our topic for today.

Megan
Good job, boss. I know good job. From family recipes to holiday traditions and religious practices. There are so many ways that people all over the world connect with their heritage and ancestry. So to talk

Stephie
to us about why connecting with your heritage can be important and how it can turn into something bigger. We’ve invited pysanka artist Stephanie Cheeseman to join us welcome, Steph. Hello, thank

Stephanie
you for having me.

Megan
Thanks for joining us, uh, why don’t you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself.

Stephanie
Um, I am a third generation Ukrainian American. And I have been working hard lately to try to support Ukraine, in everything that they are dealing with right now. personhood has been part of my life my entire life. And I have been trying to use what skill I have, though I am not an artist, I would say that I am average at best to teach those around me about Ukrainian heritage and about this art specifically to try to raise money for refugees and for some other organizations that are supporting Ukraine. But I’m Ukrainian on my mother’s side, and my grandfather grew up there. So I’m am in touch with some, excuse me, I am in touch with some family who still lives in Ukraine. So that’s kind of what’s going on with me right now.

Stephie
So, you know, tell us tell us a little bit more about your Ukrainian background and heritage and how that’s important in your family.

Stephanie
So I’ve never been to Ukraine, but my family has kept the traditions alive very seriously, mostly through food and through some of like, our decorations in our homes. And I grew up going to a church that spoke in what’s called Church Slavonic. Where it’s mostly Slavic people who attend. So it’s been with me my my whole life. And it’s always been seen as a very important thing. To me and to my family, despite me, never having gone and I don’t speak Ukrainian either. But that doesn’t seem to be quite like the the cornerstone aspect of it. It’s more about family and content connecting with family that keeps me connected to my Ukrainian heritage.

Megan
You have been making pysanky for a long time, can you explain what they are and their symbolism and Ukrainian culture?

Stephanie
Yes, so, there is a lot to say. So, I will try to speak concisely and try to explain a very complicated thing in a you know, verbal way without any visuals. So hopefully it makes sense as I go. But pysanky are Ukrainian easter eggs. A pysanka is a single egg. But they are a ancient Art Craft, I’m sorry, art form that predate Christianity actually. And it is a uniquely Slavic way of doing things. And the version that I do is a uniquely Ukrainian way of decorating eggs. So they are highly ornate and they are made using a the batik method, you may have heard that in relation to like fabrics, but it’s essentially where you use a wax resist method. So like you start out with a an egg, my sister has ducks, as you’re talking about. So my sister’s been doing duck eggs this year. But you start with a raw egg. Some people do blown eggs, it is a more traditional way to do a raw egg. So that’s what I tend to do, because a ton of symbolism associated with rebirth. So pre Christianity, the raw egg was just associated with the rebirth of spring. Now that it is part of a Christian practice, it is considered like rebirth through Christ. So it is associated with Easter for that reason. But so you start with your raw egg, your white egg, brown egg, whatever color egg it is, and you use beeswax to cover up portions of the egg in designs with a stylus called a keystone cup. And it’s a little funnel on a piece of wood. And you fill it up with melted beeswax that you melt in a candle. And you cover up the designs that you want to cover. And then you go from lightest to darkest dies. So when you’ve got your design that you want in a on your white egg, you would dye it yellow next, and whatever you cover up at that point will remain yellow. And then you move on to orange, red. And maybe you want your background color to be black, those are very traditional colors that I just laid out. And so to have the black background, you then have an egg that’s covered in wax. And the way that you see the design that you’ve made, is you hold it up to a candle, and you melt the wax and wipe it away. And then you can see what you’ve made. So it’s a very contemplative practice, it’s almost meditative. When you get going into making an egg. Or really it’s it’s writing an egg, the the word that it comes from means to write. So you write on your egg, and you create your design. And it is as though you are embedding it with good wishes and prayers. So pre Christianity that were referred to as like a talisman. And they were a bringer of good things. And it would be interpreted as you know, like an like a a, an item that would bring you all of those good things. And in Christianity, the version of it is that it is like a well wish and a prayer for the person that either keeps it themselves or gives it as a gift. So I think you asked about some of the symbolism. So I’ll go into kind of some of the common ones. But literally anything that goes on that egg has some sort of symbol. symbolism. Every color means something every combination of colors means something the designs that you place on it means something so like flowers, whether they look like a flower, like you would see on, you know, in a flower bed, or if they’re a stylized version, where it has very sharp points and almost looks like a star, they stand for beauty and for wisdom. Wheat, if you were to put it on your egg would mean prosperity, either a wish for prosperity, or like a gift of prosperity to someone if you were to give it away. trees represent kind of like a tree of life kind of thing. So they are a wish for long life, good health.

And if you do bands around the egg, just like your wedding band has symbolism. It means basically the same thing, it is an eternity. Although with Christian ties, it also ties to like everlasting life. And then, you know, color symbolism. Some of them are very logical, like green, if you were to have a very green egg would be in reference to spring and to new life. Whether you’re talking about it in terms of new life in Christ or in a new life in the spring sense, although many people make these eggs all year long. And then my favorite one that I always say to people who are just starting or don’t feel comfortable doing Christian symbols because you really don’t have to. Or if you you know, don’t don’t feel that you are an expert artist, is that just combining four or more colors, no matter what you’ve put on that egg is meant to bring joy, happiness and prosperity. So those are those are my favorite scent. symbols, and those are the ones that I tend to do often. But I really love the colors one, because it seems very intimidating to do this art, but it really doesn’t need to be.

Megan
So even though the obviously the designs can be very, very different from simple to very complex, like what is the average amount of time it takes to make one of these

Stephanie
four, for me, I spend a couple hours per egg. So I’ll put in time it partially it takes the time to do it well and to not, you know, have big blobs of melted wax. But also the planning of it in the way that it flows as you’re writing on the egg. Or if you really want to think about what you’re doing, many people will plan it and draw on their egg with pencil beforehand, so that they know exactly what they’re going to do. And then when you start talking about the people who do this professionally, they’re spending, you know, if they’re doing a large egg, like a goose egg or something like that, they could be spending like 20 hours on the one egg, you know it, it can be very complex what some people do. But for me, I’m closer to like the two to three hours per egg.

Stephie
I love this idea that, you know, like you said that what that making these is very meditative. And also you know the concept that it that you’re you’re putting your prayers, and your well wishes into this egg. So like if you are making it for someone you’re spending that time thinking about them and praying for them, if you’re a person of faith, or you know, putting up all of your good wishes for them into this, this egg in this gift. Like I think that’s just such a beautiful concept. I mean, as a crafter myself, like when I make something for someone, I’m thinking about that person as I’m making it. And so it’s just it’s such a beautiful concept. That that is one of the biggest, you know, sort of cornerstones of this art is the aspect of prayer and good wishes that go with it.

Stephanie
Absolutely. And there’s a lesson legend that I would like to share with you all. So, I was taught this legend from my mother, she was taught the legend from her mother, and she was taught by her grandmother like this has been passed along. And there there are many different versions of it. But this is the version that I know. So there is a legend that there is a monster change to a far away Cliff who represents all evil in our world. How tight the chains hold that Mark monster back on the cliff is entirely dependent on how many pysanky made. So each year, the number of pysanky are counted. If there are too few that are made, the chains loosen, and evil is free to spread across the world. But if enough are made, the chains tighten and hold evil off for another year. So what I’ve been telling the classes that I teach, is this year, if this legend holds true, it is our job to make as many person kit as we can, because there are so many people displaced or otherwise unable to make the eggs for themselves. And I know of several projects that are going on where the intent is to make these eggs as a prayer and encourage donations, but also that those eggs would then be given to some of the refugees. And I think that we’re all in the prison community and in Ukrainian communities all over the world, trying to step up and not only explain that this is a unique culture, this is an important culture, this is an element of the culture that needs to be saved and preserved. But also that there is beauty, even still, and that we should be encouraging that and we should be trying to focus on the people.

Stephie
I love that. So even let’s dive right into that. Let’s talk about you know, you know, obviously, this art form is so especially important to you right now following you know, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So let’s let’s talk some more about what you and the rest of the community are doing to teach others about your ancestry. This art form Ukraine’s traditions and help all of the displaced Ukrainian people.

Stephanie
Yeah, so yeah, so I think it’s important to start with some history to understand why some of the folk arts are so prevalent and it’s not just about not just about money in action, which are obviously what we are all encouraging through our art. But this is not the first time that Russia and its various forms have imposed their will on Ukraine. There has been Russian imperialism and occupation under the USSR that have crushed Ukrainian culture in the past. During Soviet repression, Ukrainians were not allowed to speak their own language. They were not allowed to celebrate their own traditions, person co were banned because they were deemed religious. And religion was not allowed in the Soviet Union. people were killed, sent to remote places for speaking up or not speaking up, or being connected with someone who spoke up. So all of these things were meant to be crushed out of Ukraine, but they survived anyway. And they survived in secret. And they survived in Ukrainians who left Ukraine. And it’s just an incredible thing that they have persevered and that Ukraine has persevered. And then these last 30 years since Ukraine gained its independence again, the folk arts and traditions have come back. And I know, I know that I’m feeling very much like oh, no, you know, I don’t want these things to be lost. It’s my job to keep them alive. It’s my job to to share. It’s my job to encourage people, you know, so it’s, for me, what that’s meant is, I know how to do this. I have taught person code for years, my mom taught many years before I did I remember her teaching since I was a toddler. But it’s always been, you know, a volunteer thing at church where we barely covered the cost to, to bring the supplies, right, we were charging people $2 Just enough to pay for some eggs, and beeswax and candles. You know, it wasn’t a lot of money that we were talking about. But this year, I kind of changed. When I was thinking I sent the most rambling and incoherent email to the priest at my church, on the mustard on the 25th of February. And I said, I don’t know what to do. But we have to do something. And I know how to do this. So can we make this work, and they have been just so supportive. So we had our first workshop with 26 people who came and made a eggs and donated and then we had a second one because that one was so successful. And I actually have two more planned because they have been so successful. And through that fundraiser, we’ve raised $5,600 so far. So that’s been really good. And then we were also contacted by a company that wanted to sponsor the sale of piston kit for raising money for Ukraine, raising money for Rossum of Ukraine, or rosin for Ukraine. So we’ve been selling eggs there. We’ve mostly been doing local sales, but we just recently put up the ability to mail them, we’ve figured out how we’re going to be able to mail them wherever in the US. And that’s been wonderful. And I believe. Let’s see, we’ve raised over $3,000, for that one so far. And that’s been Yeah, that one’s been really cool. Because

all of the eggs that have been sold through that fundraiser were made by me, my mom, my aunt, my sister, my cousins, all family. And that’s been just incredible one that people like them. And to that people want to be involved with us. And it just makes me really proud to be part of my family and proud that I know how to do this and that. Even though I’m third generation, they took the time to teach me and it’s feels wonderful, and I’m sharing with my daughter now, you know, and it’s just a it’s one of those things that you think is so small, until you start thinking of ways that you can have an impact and most recently, I contacted Stephie because I know you’ve got your food blog, and we just had Easter and food has been another huge way of connecting with my Ukrainian roots. So I asked if she wanted to help me if you wanted to help me by sharing a recipe and holding a fundraiser with that and I really hope that we’re able to engage People want because Posca tastes amazing. And to camp. And to you know, the goal is to continue having Ukraine and Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian people in the front of people’s minds. Because it’s, it’s hard to continue connecting when all you see are traumatic things. You just want to turn it off, right? You don’t want to watch the news anymore. You don’t want to read about it anymore. And I understand that feeling. But it’s real. And this is really happening. So how can we connect with people? And how can we encourage them? And help them to remember that these are real people who are being impacted? And food is a great way to me?

Megan
Yeah, absolutely. Food is such a

Stephie
huge connector. It is. And I really enjoyed making that recipe and it is so delicious, actually. So we’re gonna have a link in the show notes. And then on our Instagram, we will link all of these things, we will link to the egg fundraiser, we will link to the blog post, we will link to the the Rasm for Ukraine fundraiser, like all of the things if you guys want to go check that out. But you know, if you like baking bread, you definitely need to make this recipe because it is so freakin good. I have like, I have like half a loaf left. And I’m like, I think I might need to like turn it into like some like big French toast. But yeah, we will link to all of this because it’s, I think it’s such an interesting way to not just raise funds, but also teach people about these traditions that they may or may not have known about. Like I like I knew about pysanka. But I didn’t know all of the symbolism and all of the like, I knew, obviously I knew, like they took a lot of care to make because their eggs, but I didn’t know like the emotional care that like went into them as well. And so that’s been so fun for me to learn about. And so yeah, and also I think that like, as a society, we have a really short attention span. And so, you know, this, this war has been going on for a couple of months now. And I think that we sometimes were like, oh, like if it’s not if we are not Ukrainian or we don’t have friends or family that are being directly impacted. Sometimes you could be like, Oh, that’s still Oh, I forgot that still going on. So I think that these are great ways to remind people like yes, this is still happening. And even, even afterwards, like there’s going to be so much. There’s so much devastation and loss, and these, these refugees are going to need care and love and all of those things. So I just I think what you’re doing is really great.

Stephanie
Thank you, I It feels so small. But I feel like I have to do something, you know, and this is something that brings me a lot of joy to share with people and I love making these eggs. I love teaching about them. I love learning more i It’s been really incredible. I’ve because we have some attention, which I had never had before about teaching. I made myself a Instagram, where I just share about the eggs and fundraisers that I’m the eggs that I’m making in the fundraisers that I’m participating in. And I’ve connected with so many people and I’m getting tips, and I’m learning how to do two new techniques. And it’s just really cool. And I thought that I would feel uncomfortable because I don’t speak Ukrainian but no one has made me feel that way. And it’s just been wonderful. I’ve been asking questions and probably bothering this one person a whole lot. But she’s really wonderful and it’s just incredible. I can never do what some of these people are able to do with such humble tools right? All you need is a candle some beeswax, and a stylus that honestly you could figure out how to make without having to buy a specialized one. And and just eggs and some dyes right? And these people are able to make things on a curved surface that is not necessarily smooth. That are just incredible. And I’m over here you know just saying add more colors but it’s amazing. Yeah, it’s a really amazing, an amazing time and and it’s horrific and awful. All and joyful and community gathering all at the same time. And the way that everyone’s coming together to try to help is just inspiring.

Megan
I think it’s interesting that you said, you know, you said that it feels so small what you’re doing, but no matter what, like, that is how things begin. If you think you feel it might feel small to you, but you raised a lot of money for basically one person doing something, but and also, you’re teaching myself and Stephie about this, and our listeners will learn about it. And then they’ll go tell other people, and some of the coverage that you’ve gotten, like, people are learning about these things. And that is how these art forms are passed down, as well. That’s how we learn about other culture is through, you know, the workings of possibly a single person.

Stephanie
Yeah, I mean,

Megan
like, even, you know, in like traditional old societies, and we all lived in a communal area, like you’d learn from the artist or the storyteller. And I just like, it’s feel it’s really beautiful to continue that on.

Stephie
Yeah, I am also like, low key mad that we don’t live closer to you, because I would 100% be at your classes learning? Oh, absolutely. Ali, I have no artistic ability. But I would be like, Yes, I’m there, this is gonna be so much fun.

Stephanie
I’m always exploring new ways to try to keep try to keep spreading about it, and try to keep people interested and engaged. So maybe we can explore that, you know,

Stephie
this is amazing. I love it so much. So, you know, obviously, you’re taking an active role in teaching the next generation, the art of pysanka. And you’re making your family’s traditional recipes, and so many more things. Why, you know, we’ve I guess we’ve sort of touched a little bit on this. But why do you think it’s important that we continue to pass on these types of traditions, no matter what our cultural background may be? Obviously, yours is Ukrainian. But you know, there are beautiful cultural traditions from all over the world, and why is it important to connect with them?

Stephanie
I don’t know if this directly answers your question, but I’m going to, I’m going to try my best. I think that it is vital that you understand your own traditions, and those of people around you to help inspire empathy, help inspire, understanding, help to become enriched in your own life with all the things that are similar. So these, even when you’re just talking about these kinds of eggs, there are so many versions of them. They are different based on the region, even within Ukraine, what designs are traditional, what methods are traditional, what I do is a version that is very Ukrainian, it is from the region of Ukraine that my family is from. But there are also also different methods. One is called the drop pole method where you use essentially just a pin, I see people put a pin inside of a eraser on a pencil, when they don’t have the like, fancy tool, the the specifically made tool to do it. And even that alone, right? It’s the same idea. But it’s different. It’s a different slant on the same thing. And it’s also something that’s could be very accessible if you knew about it. And I think that it’s so interesting that some of the artists who make person can now who I’ve been engaging with and learning from many of them are not Ukrainian, many of them just in embraced this tradition as being interesting to them and something that they enjoy doing. And those people are engaged in supporting Ukraine just as much as those of us who have a more substantial tie to Ukraine in terms of family still living there or knowledge of a, I guess, genetic connection. So to me, it doesn’t necessarily matter where you’re from as long as you value it and you respect it and you acknowledge that it is important to the people who have been doing it for centuries through their generations learn it from their families. But I think you could say that of many different traditions of many different cuisines of many different things. that you may not pay attention to, unless you put a little effort in. But then if you do, it’s so enriching. Does that make sense? I didn’t really answer your question.

Stephie
But you did.

Megan
I didn’t want to interrupt you. I want to. So you touched on some of the fundraisers that you’re working on right now, what other workshops or fundraisers do you have coming up soon.

Stephanie
So I’ve got two workshops coming up. One is Saturday, this coming Saturday, the 30th. And then I’ve got another one on the 13th of May, that I think will probably be the last one because I haven’t had I haven’t had enough interest to make another one. Although if people are interested, of course, I’m absolutely willing to continue teaching. Normally, I don’t teach outside of Lent, but this feels important. So I’m going to keep going, you know. And then I’ve been making eggs for give al X love to send love is the name that they’re calling it. But it is the egg and floral fundraiser that I’ve been doing with a company in Alexandria, Virginia, where my family is making the eggs and we’re providing them to this community in Alexandria, Virginia, where they’re, they’re selling eggs and floral arrangements with the eggs if you so choose. But now that we’ve started doing the shipping option, we’re making more people are requesting specific things, or we’re just making eggs that we have available that we can sell. And everything in that and in the workshops has been donated by volunteers, not a single penny is reimbursing anyone for their time or materials. Every single penny is going to the various fundraisers. So those are the two things that I’m really working on. Right now. Again, making an egg takes a long time, right? So I’m trying to I’m always open to new ideas, I’m open to new ways that I can help. Especially after this last workshop happens, I’m going to be dedicating a lot of time to making eggs and hopefully continuing to raise money.

Stephie
Did I just sit here and order a custom egg? Yes, I did. Very high shelf where neither the cat’s toddlers nor our cleaning people can get to it? Yes, it will be.

Megan
Actually, that actually makes me think of a question. So you said that usually raw eggs are used?

Stephanie
Yes. So that was the rub with getting the custom eggs that we could mail out we were making them in a traditional way. And now we have flipped over to using blown eggs. So it’s, it’s interesting, I’ve been do I am 32 years old, I’ve been doing this since I was a toddler. I have never ever ever used a blown egg. And I was scared because it does feel totally different in your hand, right? And I was like, am I gonna be able to make straight lines? Am I gonna break it? Am I going to mess it up. But again, talking with the people I’ve met, I have some new ways that I’m doing it or I feel way more comfortable. So I’ve successfully made, I think six eggs that are blown so far. And then some of them I’m making raw and then blowing when they’re done. So I’m emptying it out after the egg is complete.

Stephie
So now when you do traditionally when you’re making them and you’re making them with the raw eggs that are not blown, do you then always blow them out after? Or do they just sort of preserve themselves? Because I mean you you have eggs from years and years and years like from your whole family. So I yeah, let’s do exactly getting the podcast and let’s talk about that.

Stephanie
Oh, it’s so cool. So you wouldn’t think about it. But eggs are kind of their shells are kind of breathable. So when you have a raw egg if you were to leave it out for about a year, the insides dry up. High yield. Yeah. So what we do is we put like a thin coat of varnish on it. So the varnish keeps the dye from keeps the dye staying nice and the design staying nice. And it protects the egg and gives it just a little bit of extra strength, but it’s not so thick that the egg can’t draw I still, so it takes between like a year when I don’t when I don’t varnish it at all, when I don’t put any sort of shellac or coating on it at all. It dries up within a year. When I have a varnish on it, it takes a little bit longer sometimes. Probably because I lay it on too quickly. But yeah, it like dries out. So if you’re very diligent about it, my mom is much more diligent than I am. If you rotate the egg over the year, the yolk will dry in like a little ball inside of the egg. Yeah, I don’t do that I am not what I generally do is I pick my favorite side. And that’s how I placed it in so that the yolk dries on that side and what it there used to be these toys that were weighted, that when you put it down, it would like rock back and forth but then would always land in the right. That’s what happened.

Stephie
April’s wobble, yeah. Yep. Yes, yes.

Stephanie
So it does that. The yoke, the yoke makes it do that. That is so cool.

Stephie
That once you have them, like how does your family usually display them? Do you have them in a basket? Do you put them in like a little special egg cup? Like, how are you?

Stephanie
What it depends on, like, so my mom has a goose egg, I think it is, that was given as a gift to the family that my grandparents had. And that one is spectacular. And that one sits on an egg stand where it’s displayed. Um, because it’s, it’s gorgeous. The ones that I made growing up, you know, when I was like eight, those ones end up in a bowl.

Stephie
bottom of the bowl, you like stick? Hide the it’s like, it’s like the Christmas ornaments that you made in school that you like stick in the back of your parents Christmas tree. When you see them, you’re like, I’m hiding that in the back. Okay.

Stephanie
But those ones that we we put out, I think most of mine I put away now because I have a toddler. And that just doesn’t

Stephie
fit and egg shells don’t really make sense.

Stephanie
And she knows what they are. I have taught her what, what they are. And she knows the words. And she’s made a couple herself. So of course that translates into Oh, I’ll hold it. So we’ve had to have a conversation about oh, no, you won’t many times. So mine are mostly put away right now. But what I generally did is I would take a nice bowl, and because they’re still eggs, they can you know explode. And it smells like rotten egg. You want to put it in a place that these are these are the raw eggs, not the blown rice, the blown ones don’t have that risk. I mean, I don’t think they do. I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t think they do. But we’ll just put it on an open air shelf that doesn’t get bright sunlight, and it’s fine. And they’re they’re just fine. They’re nothing happens and and you can see them, the colors do sometimes fade. So like my mom has one from when she was in high school that was blue and green. And there that one’s pretty faded, because she didn’t varnish it. And it’s you know, been around a long time. And it’s still just an egg. But that’s one of the interesting things about how we know that person has an ancient tradition too. Because eggs don’t survive that, you know, they don’t they don’t survive for centuries. We’ll keep them for a few generations. But you know, it still takes a lot of care. But archeologists have found fragments that indicate that this has been done for a really long time. And then there have also been the versions that have been, you know, copied onto clay or something like that. It’s very interesting that they’ve been around for a really long time, and that there’s evidence that they have been around for a really long time, even in fragments of actual eggs that have been made. So they really last like you wouldn’t believe right? And so then you know, when I’m making an egg and I do a bad job, I always want to salvage it. And there are some things that like religiously go along with making the eggs too generally they are made during Lent. And so they go when your Easter basket and your classical basket where you have your pasta and you have the meats that you’ll be eating and you have all of the things that if you’re traditionally Catholic or Orthodox, you have been fasting throughout one that you now get to eat because it’s Easter and you get them blessed so that a blessed day egg. If something happens to it isn’t meant to be handled differently than just just an egg you would have so a blessed egg wouldn’t meant to be, you know, put into your garden. I As a well wish for your, your plants and your harvest to do well, and things like that, that even if it’s cracked, you should be taking care of it because it is a black blessed object that holds significant meaning and and holds that prayer that we were talking about earlier. And so it’s really, it’s really cool how many layers to the, to the symbolism to the, the meaning behind everything associated with it that there are. But again, it’s still raw eggs is still or it’s a blown egg, it’s still an egg. Stuff happens sometimes.

Stephie
Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. So how can our listeners connect with you and follow along with what you’re doing?

Stephanie
So um, I have an Instagram pysanka stuff PYSANKYSTEPH all one word, or I have an email that also is Pysankysteph@gmail.com. And especially if you’re in Northern Virginia, DC area, you know, any workshops that I’m doing or or fundraisers that I’m doing, I’m going to keep up on my link tree on my Instagram. But also, I’m just sharing what I’m making, if you’re interested to see what I’m making.

Megan
Awesome. Yeah,

Stephie
I will, I will also include some photos of some of the eggs on our Instagram, so you guys can see and then you can click over and go follow her because the work is beautiful.

Stephanie
Thank you.

Megan
Thank you so much for joining us and sharing about this wonderful tradition. I feel like I’ve learned so

Stephanie
much. I feel like I talked a lot. No.

What’s bringing us joy?

Megan
We like to end each episode by sharing what has been bringing us joy. So Steph, what is making you feel joyful these days,

Stephanie
I’m going to stay on theme. And it’s not going to sound very positive. But I promise you it is a positive thing that is genuinely bringing me joy. The urgency that my family and I have felt to find and help family in Ukraine that we really don’t know very well has meant that I am now meeting my Ukrainian second cousins for the first time in my life over email, social media video chats, I did not know most of them, I did not know their names. And it’s just so cool to be engaging with them now and to be learning who they are. And to be learning what we have in common. I’ve met one of my cousin’s who is a beautiful artist, and it’s just really, really cool to get to know them under horrible circumstances that I wish we had started sooner.

Stephie
That’s amazing. That’s awesome that you’re getting to make those connections. And we talked about the internet on our last episode and how awesome it is for connecting people. And so that’s fantastic that you’re able to do that. So much. Yeah, it’s I mean, I could talk about that for a long time, too. It’s very cool. That’s awesome.

Megan
Stephie What about you,

Stephie
uh, the weather has finally started to warm up. And it’s we’ve had some sunny days knock on wood. And we’ve been able to like actually get outside a little bit, which, you know, if the listeners have been around for a while they know that I don’t tend to spend a lot of time outside. But I have gotten a little bit of sunshine. So I’m not a complete vampire. And yeah, it’s been it’s been nice to go outside and pull out the sidewalk chalk in. Eden is fascinated with flowers right now. So she always wants to pick the flowers and even though every single Daffodil that she’s looking at looks the same. She usually like okay, let’s pick this flower. She goes no, not that one. And you’re like, Okay, which one? She’s like this one. Okay. Yep. Looks exact same. But yeah, this it’s been it’s been really nice.

Megan
They are different.

Stephie
I mean, yes, they are different flowers, but you can be like, Oh, you didn’t want this this one or they like you’ll pick one. And then she’s like, No, nevermind, not that one. I want this one over here. Like, you’re absolutely two years old. Um,

Megan
I would say I would say you should bring her around to my house and she could see all my tulips but then she would ravage them. So

Stephie
she probably would. Yes, this is true. This is true. Although she’s pretty good about not just like grabbing at them for the most part. She she does let us like pick them and then bring them inside. But yeah, you definitely they would be in your house instead of out New York. Yeah,

Megan
I mean, I want to pick them but at the same time, then they would not be in my yard. So I’m really conflicted.

Stephie
It is it’s very conflicting. You’re like, oh, it’s making my yard look so pro And then you’re like, but I want my house look pretty, but I want my yard to like pretty. Maybe you can pick it up before it storms this weekend and that’ll be a nice happy medium so that you don’t get like wrecked by the storms. Good idea. What is bringing you joy again?

Megan
My joy is extremely frivolous. Fine. We live from there. I went to Ulta the other day and bought myself some ridiculous eyeliner.

Stephie
It looks great.

Megan
I used to buy lots of different colors of eyeliner, and then I stopped partially because I kind of stopped wearing eyeliner for a while and then I was only wearing black and then I was like, You know what? No. Like, it’s cool to wear eyeliner again, like for a while. I don’t know if you remember, like, people weren’t really wearing eyeliner, I guess. Yeah, it was like a whole thing. It was a whole thing. And I have always really liked it and you

Stephie
do a good job with your eyeliner. I always feel like I do like a garbage job with mine. But

Megan
I’ve been practicing

Stephie
it stays really well. Like it doesn’t get like under your eye because mine always gets like mushy. So I Okay, so I like

Megan
to use liquid eyeliner. I feel like it works better with that. Um, but I when I got these, so I got two different colors once a liquid one and one is a pencil. And I did one on top and one on the bottom. And first of all my husband was like, Why did you put on makeup? Because obviously I was like wearing my workout clothes and otherwise it’s like trash. And I was like, Do I need a reason? I don’t need a reason at all. Um, Bob but it was fine for the whole day until I was making dinner at some and I like rubbed my eye in it like I ended up with bluestreak Taff across my so it’s fine as long as you do not touch your eyes. Which I’m bad at so fair. Yeah. But I do recommend liquid eyeliner if you are bad at eyeliner for some reason I’m better at liquid than I am at pencil now.

Stephie
So I need to I need to practice with I need to practice with like this lighter more because I’ve never been very good at it. But yeah, it always looks so cute on you that it makes me want to it makes me want to try so the only problem

Megan
is that liquid only comes in a few colors. So there’s not as many there’s not as many colors available in liquid. But if you do love lots of crazy colors for eyeliner, I highly recommend Urban Decay. They have great Oh yeah,

Stephie
they always have great stuff. There. Excellent.

Megan
So that’s silly little things make me happy.

Stephie
I love it. Well Until next time, leave us a review on Apple podcasts and listen to us on your favorite platform. You can also follow us on social media at IRSIpodcast or send us an email at idratherstayinpodcast@gmail.com We’d love to hear from our listeners.

Megan
Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai