Easter eggs

Easter eggs – one of the crumbliest part of folk art. It is a kind of arts and crafts. Colouring of eggs connects elements of painting and graphics. From ancient times to the present days adults and children, people of village and town paint them. The custom of painting eggs is associated with the rites of spring holidays . Eggs were coloured for the Easter, the Sunday after Easter and St. George's Day.

• Until the XX century eggs were painted mostly with vegetative dyes – onion shells, birch leaves, hay, rind of oak or alder. There were also used a wide range of grasses, berries and tree bark. These things give brownish, greenish and yellowish tints.

Eggs were painted in two ways: • erasing patterns with a needle, shaver or knife

onto one colour painted egg top • and drawing patterns on egg with a hot

beeswax, using a stick or drawing-pin.

Coloured scraping Painted or boiled in dyes eggs

are scraped with a knife in various patterns. Decorating eggs in this way, the pattern is usually very fine and openwork; lines are graphic and angular. Sometimes these patterns developed and it becomes an excellent graphical representation of the pattern, just a piece of graphics.

Painting with a beeswax An egg is painted after it had

been covered with a beeswax. To obtain a colorful letter the surface of the egg is covered with wax and placed in the paint several times, starting with the brightest and finishing with the darkest colour. There is dominating a geometric ornament. Prints are made up of dots and dashes, resembling an elongated drop.

Painting patterns Various patterns are arranged of these two elements. Patterns in the compositions are connected with dots and curves. Even a small regrouping of elements in the letter can change the entire composition, making it difficult to find even two identical patterns Easter eggs. The patterns are made up of meaningful geometric signs and symbols from the ancient times. A big variety of characters are used on eggs. The sun, crosses, spirals, grass-snakes, rings, teeth, trees, bird’s feet, Rues and etc. Harmoniously arranged dots, dashes, collar curves, triangles, rhombuses, crosses creates a celestial images - innumerable variations of suns and stars . Repeating a twining grass-snake, coil, horn on the egg highlights an oval of the egg . Primordial symbols mixed to the outer - the flora and the birds’ motives.

• Easter eggs were given as gifts, offered to and used for the beginning of sowing and grazing celebrations and festivals.

• Not only the festive table is decorated with Easter eggs. They are gifts for guests and relatives, mostly children. Easter eggs are exchanged, they are being broken and rolled. People called „lalaukininkai” collect them with other gifts. games of breaking and rolling eggs are also very popular.

Thank you

for your attention!!!