Kung Hei Fat Choi—Year of the Dragon

According to a popular Chinese legend, the Universe was once an enormous egg.  One day the egg split open—its upper half became the sky, its lower half the earth, and from it emerged P’an Ku, primordial man. Every day he grew ten feet taller, the sky ten feet higher, the earth ten feet thicker. After eighteen thousand years P'an Ku died. His head split and became the sun and moon, while his blood filled the rivers and seas. His hair became the forests and meadows, his breath the wind, his voice the thunder.  Kung Hei Fat Choi.

Ukrainian Vancouver

My talented friend Myroslav Petriw (whom I have known and collaborated with for many years), author of Yaroslaw's Treasure, and my newly made friends, Vitaliy Kubatskyy and Valeriy Shevchuk (with whom I shared much merriment and exhuberance in celebrating the 120^th Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada) have been very busy!  In addition to their many personal endeavours and pursuits, they have collectively succeeded in developing an independent online bilingual Ukrainian/English newspaper.  Congratulations to them and to everyone else involved in this exciting project.  I look forward to surfing their site and watching the progress as it grows and develops!  Don’t take my word for it—check it out yourself at http://www.ukrainianvancouver.com.  Congratulations!

More Than 25 Reasons Why You Should Write Pysanky!

It's the eve of a new year, and the impetus to reflect on 2011 is all around me.  Looking back not only on the past year, but also on the past 50 years, I consider all the things that pysanky have meant to me.  It makes me think about my grandmother and mother.  I remember my old friends for whom I made and gave pysanky as gifts.  I am grateful for my new friends who augment my collection.  I think about my grandparents who were Canadian pioneers and am thankful for my upbringing in a family that inspired me to be a pioneer on the world wide web.  I am rewarded with the reaction I get from people at my demonstrations and workshops.  My heart fills when children discover the magic they can do with eggs, beeswax and dyes.  My legacy is the writing and publishing of a children's activity book dedicated to my own child and I am proud of receiving a mark of distinction from the Library of Congress for my bibliography.  And, most recently, my foray into filming video clips has presented me with another experience.  I am astonished at the number of words that appear in my journal. These words describe why I love pysanky!

1. relaxing
2. therapeutic
3. intricate
4. creative
5. inspirational
6. energizing
7. fascinating
8. inheritance
9. heritage
10. custom
11. tradition
12. Easter
13. Spring
14. fun
15. affordable
16. artistic
17. sensory
18. unique
19. spiritual
20. talismanic
21. symbolic
22. colorful
23. rhythmic
24. calming
25. rewarding
26. pattern

I would love to hear what pysanky mean to you.  Comment with your own experience.

Happy New Year!

2012

Merry Christmas from the Brander's

About the Pysanka—It Is Written!

Responding to inquiries about my YouTube photo montage on the Pysanka Symposium, I have posted a video clip of the Book Launch and the resulting mark of distinction announced by the Library of Congress.  It's here for you to enjoy.

Post a comment to this blog, and I'll send you a Christmas present!

Better Late Than Never!

It's been over 3 years since I attended the 2008 Pysanka Symposium and launched my bibliography, "About the Pysanka--It Is Written!" in Washington, DC.  The event and the city had such an effect on me that I vowed to return.  And I'm happy that my dream was fulfilled (see my March 30, 2011 blog).

In the meantime, I've put together a photo montage of the event and have posted it here for all to enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZFc1-fg-HY