From Ukraine, with love
Fort Myers Beach Public Library director Leroy Hommerding doesn’t particularly like his eggs scrambled, poached or sunny-side up. He prefers them hollow.
For more than 40 years, Hommerding has been decorating Ukrainian eggs using a kistka drawing design, wax, dyes, patience and a steady hand. The eggs are decorated mainly as gifts to be given around the Easter holiday.
Hommerding, who is not Ukrainian, first experienced the Eastern European egg design at a folk festival while living in Washington D.C.
“There were two Ukrainian couples set up under a tent and all four of them were decorating eggs,” said Hommerding. “I’ve always been attracted to the Ukrainian style. I just love the geometric designs that are on the eggs.”
After getting a few pointers from the two couples, he became self-taught in the procedure and has averaged roughly 15 decorated eggs per year. He uses ostrich, goose and chicken eggs. The completion of a larger ostrich egg requires 200-350 hours of work, according to Hommerding.
“I buy all three types of eggs from a rancher in North Dakota,” he said. “One out of every 10 eggs I cannot use because of some thin place on the egg. The intensity of the dye will not adhere. And, if I’m going to spend that much time on an egg, I’m going to be sure that it is absolutely uniform.”
Hommerding begins his lengthy process by emptying the contents of the egg. He then washes the inside of the egg with detergent water before putting it aside for a full year and checking for defects in the shell.
He described the seven steps of the meticulous decorating procedure that follows.
“The first step is to divide the egg into quarters and then each quarter gets divided into eighths,” he said. “I then make additional points to the design I already have worked on. Once that’s done, I make the lines or cover everything on the egg that’s going to stay white.”
His next steps include dipping the egg into yellow dye for three to five minutes; drying it; putting beeswax on the yellow portion to preserve it; dipping it into orange dye; waxing that color; and repeating the procedure with red and black dyes. He then warms the egg over a candle flame before using cheesecloth to wipe the wax off. The final process includes spreading varnish in his hands and rolling the egg in it to coat it. Another drying process precedes a second and third coat of varnish.
“A major part is actually figuring out what the design is going to be,” said Hommerding. “You have to think that out very carefully. One quarter of the egg has to be identical to the next quarter because the motif keeps repeating itself over the entire egg.”
According to Hommerding, the egg decorating process has been handed down through past generations of the Ukrainian people and adorned as far back as 2000 years ago. They believed that great powers were embodied in them.
The decorated Easter egg – called pysanky – symbolized “the release of the earth from the shackles of winter and the coming of spring with its promise of new hope, new life and prosperity.” With the arrival of Christianity, the pysanky symbolizes the Resurrection and a promise of eternal life.
“Legend has it that as long as the pysanka are decorated, goodness will prevail over evil throughout the world,” said Hommerding, who does not put his name anywhere near the display. “Ukrainian tradition says that you are putting something of yourself into the egg to give a gift to someone. You are not calling attention to yourself. So, whoever makes the egg is not important. It’s the story. Every color on the egg stands for something and every symbol on the egg becomes part of the story.
After his father passed away three years ago, Hommerding decorated six eggs in a brown and white motif during his grieving process.
“The purpose of the brown and white is to indicate that life continues to go on,” he said. “It doesn’t end.
Other colors with symbolism include white (purity, light, rejoicing, faithfulness); yellow (sun, stars, harvest. warmth, reward, etc.); gold (spirituality, wisdom); orange (endurance, ambition, strength, everlasting sun) and red (happiness, hope, passion, blood, etc.) The combination of colors has separate meaning.
This year, the library director has already donated two of his eggs to the library’s celebrity auction and has gifted another to a friend. Many symbols on the eggs – a deer means prosperity for life; a diamond indicates knowledge – have special meaning.
“Since you’re giving this gift to another person, there are wishes and blessings that are accompanying the egg,” he said. “Everything on the egg is intended to heal or build relationships.”
Hommerding has had his Ukrainian eggs on display at the library for three years now and is expected to continue on a yearly basis due to public demand. This year’s display will be on exhibit until the end of April.