The Polish Patient 2013-W12

Technically, the week 12 blog entry posted in week 13 but we will have to live with that.  My days have been hectic while at the same time very sedentary lately, but I'm happy to say my mother is improving and has moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility to complete her recovery.  Thanks for your well-wishes and prayers!

If you would ask her, "are you Polish?" she'd reply "you bet your sweet dupa".  Polish speakers will recognize this as an emphatic "yes".  This time of year, in preparation for Easter many Slavic peoples make what are called pysanky (or something similar) — colorful and intricately designed eggs.  I made this sketch of a pysanky at Sara D's house during the January sketching party.  It has a Christmas theme, which I had never seen before.  Dig that crazy egg holder!  I will repost this sketch another time with a better picture and another sketch or two from that event.  Meanwhile...

A couple or three decades back I had a passing interest in the art of pysanky.  For a while I used to crank them at a pretty good clip.  And not unexpectedly my Mother scooped up the bulk of them for her collection.  Since I am in her house today, I thought I would select a few of my favorites and photograph them to share with you.  That was a challenge in itself.

It's hard to believe that these eggs were laid in the waning days of the Reagan presidency.  (Let's not dwell on that thought!)  Though not a painting, I hope you find these pysanky artful and enjoyable.

Three Pysanky, made circa 1989