The egg has featured prominently in the arts for thousands of years, either as the subject of paintings or as an object of art itself. It's not exactly clear when people actually started painting and decorating eggs. It's known that Ukrainian historical records dating from around 900 AD make reference to dyeing eggs. Charity Hofert is one of growing number of people helping to keep this ancient art form alive and well. Although relatively new to egg dyeing, she has enthusiastically embraced the craft. With the help of a few books and much trial and error, Charity has taught herself the finer points of dyeing eggs.
Almost any type of egg can be dyed, however, Charity prefers to work primarily with chicken eggs -- mainly because they're inexpensive. Charity advises letting the eggs warm to room temperature because the beeswax, which is integral to the egg design process, will stick better if the egg isn't chilled. She recommends using beeswax that has been dyed black because it's easier to see the progression of your design. The beeswax is placed in a tool called a Kistka (figure A), which is a pencil-shaped device with a small, copper, funnel-like reservoir at one end. When the Kistka is held over the flame of a candle, the wax melts in the funnel. At this point, you can begin to draw your design on the surface of the egg. The egg is then dipped into the lightest color dye bath and left to sit for a few minutes. "It's sort of a resist process", explains Charity, "the area of the egg that has the wax applied to it is unaffected by the dye. You then remove the egg from the dye, continue your beeswax design and dip the egg into the next lightest color dye. This process is repeated, each time adding more wax until your design is complete." Charity uses aniline dyes because they are much more brilliant than food coloring or the type of dye normally found in a typical Easter egg dyeing kit. When your design is complete the egg can be placed on a homemade rack of nails and heated in an oven, or simply held over a candle flame until the wax melts. Charity prefers removing the wax using a candle flame. Once the wax begins to melt, it's a simple matter of wiping the liquid wax off the surface of the egg with a soft cloth or paper towel. After all the wax is removed, Charity drains the content of the egg, and preserves it with a thin coat of varnish or polyurethane. "It's a wonderful way to express your creativity"' says Charity. "And, it's a lot of fun to do with a group of your friends. Even people who feel they have no artistic ability are amazed at how simple egg dyeing really is.
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