The tradition to paint eggs in the Ukraine dates back to ancient times. Egg painting was typically done in rural areas where people lived in small Ukrainian village houses and made painted eggs in late winter or early spring period, when there was not much work on the fields. They gathered, sang songs, embroidered tissues and painted eggs. Today in the Ukrainian town of Kolomyja you can visit the only muzeum of pisankas.
If you look carefully at these eggs, you can decipher the order of wax painting and dying. The areas that are white were waxed first, then the eggs were dyed yellow. The areas that are yellow were waxed second, then the eggs were dyed green. The green areas were waxed and the eggs were dyed red. Finally, the red areas were waxed and the eggs were dyed black. The artist has to think and paint backwards in order to create the pattern in a sort of reverse (negative) sequence.
