Nina Shepardson has been fascinated with decorating eggs for more than 30 years. She started with (comparatively crude) Faberge-style eggs - with oval openings, little scenes inside, and lots of glitter and gold ribbon trim. At the request of a friend, she (rather unwillingly) agreed to learn how to write Pysanky, the ancient Ukrainian batik style of egg decorating, and was immediately hooked on the process. For the last 15+ years she’s been learning, experimenting and perfecting her pysanky skills. She’s worked on all different types of eggs, from tiny, fragile quail eggs to ostrich eggs, but her favorite canvases are turkey eggs, both because of their size and the way they so willingly take the dyes. Nina finds plentiful inspiration for her designs from the nature that surrounds this beautiful area of Virginia.
Pysanky is a traditional folk art practiced by many eastern European peoples. Much of the symbolism of the designs is meant in a prayerful or well-wishing way for the intended recipient. Aside from that, pysanky eggs are simply beautiful and worthy of visual appreciation.
