
Shandra Wilson: Passing down tradition
McKean County| Allegheny National Forest & Surrounds of the Pennsylvania Wilds
By Katie Weidenboerner Deppen
“Eggs were a magical item because there was no science to explain it. There was something that looked like a rock and life came from it.”
Shandra has been doing pysanky (Ukranian Easter egg painting) since she was five. The skill was passed down from her grandparents, who were from the Ukraine.
“Traditionally, they were made as magical items that had this power and women would pass them down to their daughters,” Shandra said.
She was taught by her Grandma Vee (Viriginia Anderson). The insides of the eggs are blown out, a candle is lit, and she starts to layer designs in hot wax on the egg shell. Dipping them in an assortment of dyes, the process continues — dip and draw, dip and draw — until she feels it is complete. The wax is then melted off to reveal the intricacies of the design, and then shellacked into permanence.
“I don’t have any idea how an egg is going to look when I start it,” Shandra said of the eggs which take between three to four hours of labor to complete.
Her studio is the extra bedroom of her home, and her art is made under the close direction of her cats, Mister (shown) and Ramona. She teaches classes locally, sharing her family’s tradition with others, an act she thinks would make Grandma Vee proud.
TIMELY TIP
Easter is just around the corner. Consider participating in one of Shandra’s upcoming egg decorating workshops or purchase a delicate, commemorative gift.
For more information about Shandra Wilson, visit facebook.com/shanandrala/.
*Photos used in this article were taken by Katie Weidenboerner Deppen as part of the Creative Makers of the Pennsylvania Wilds – A Traveling Public Art Show, which was partly funded by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.