 The annual Ukrainian Pysanka, or Easter egg painting, was held in the Scullery of the Bucknell Langone Center in the evening of March 11, 1997. This year the event was sponsored by the Bucknell Russian Program, the Russian Club with the strong support of the Office of International Education (thank you Susan Zingale-Baird). Sue Brown and Madhu Malik made up the core of engineers who whipped the evening up, assisted by Faye Beard, who helped with the special Orthodox Easter dishes of kulich and paskha. (Food was provided to divert appetites from the objects d'art.) The Russky Kruzhok (Gillian Kirstel, Sally Ryman, Devon Webster with his trusty camera) handled the promotion and historical record. The whole production was hours in the planning and days in the making, with a cast of more than a dozen! |
 The amateurs first set to eating the special Orthodox Easter kulich and paskha that Mrs. Beard and Professor Brown prepared for the occasion.  Professor Beard waited too long and came up with an empty plate. His pleas for a portion of his wife's contribution were ignored. The serious pysankers, of course, went immediately to work. Keep those crumbs out of the dye, guys! And watch the candles! We only had one fire all night, which left the Langone Center standing. |
 The Russian Studies Program in all its spendor led the way and lit the path of creativity with the product of their endeavors. The artistic skills of the Program was evident in the output of the fearless leaders, which each proudly displayed.
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 But others quickly followed, focusing all their artistic skills on a single egg. No, she isn't frying the egg in its shell over a candle; she is melting the beeswax in order to reveal the patterns left in the eggshell by the dyes.  |
Pretty soon everybody was at it . . . under the watchful eye of Professor Madhu Malik. Three eggs did crack, despite all her efforts, but most could still be displayed--not a bad record for 7 dozen eggs.
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So why all the concentration? Why all the painstaking care? Press the magic egg over on the left and see what hatches. |
Photos by Devon Webster
©1997 | Robert Beard