Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Pysanki is a traditional eastern

Pysanki is a traditional eastern European art form in which eggs – natural or wooden – are intricately painted with geometric designs.  It’s a trap for your eyes; you look and try to trace the design to a point of stasis, a place where things start and stop, but you keep slipping back and around… Kel turned me on to pysanky not long after we met.  She’s had a few pieces for years and cherishes her little collection. As do I. 

So what, for you, might be a pittance, a drachma in the bucket, an inconsequentiality, is truly deeply appreciated in our household.  It bespeaks an ancient native exoticism, creaky water heaters and smoky samovars… even that scrap of newsprint, ripped crudely from a sheaf intended for another hemisphere, the letters conspiring and doubling backwards, tarot ads with 900 numbers and slinky skanks for which you felt inexplicably compelled to apologize as it emerged wrapping the brightly painted egg… this wad of smeary paper is itself an artifact of such obscure fascination that it remains crumpled on our dining table as a rough proletarian nest for the egg you brought us…

The egg is in traditional colors – red, brown, green, yellow; it’s a bit smaller than a small chicken egg and has a finely woven cord running from end to end, tacked down with beads and terminating in a delicate tassel.  It’s going in the collection.  Oh yes and it was wonderful to make your acquaintance.  Enjoy your travels!