. . . about ROBYN EGGS
Hello! My name is Robyn Lindsay Seward. I grew up on a cattle ranch deep in the mountains of Northern California, between San Francisco and Oregon. It can be difficult to explain geographically to people who have never been north of the Bay Area, so I’ll leave it at that. Just picture this sort of landscape:
...and lots of these!
I graduated from UC Davis in June of 2014, where I studied genetics and anthropology along with my nursing prerequisites. An additional Bachelor's degree in nursing soon followed, and I now work as a registered nurse in an intensive care unit in Santa Rosa, CA.
I first learned about pysanky (Ukrainian eggs) over a decade ago from a talented woman who hosted an afternoon workshop on the subject at Humboldt State University--I have often wished I could remember her name to thank her. I do remember that I was immediately entranced, and that evening I ordered my very first set of aniline dyes, beeswax blocks, and writing tools. The learning curve that followed was a steep and often frustrating one, but I found myself learning something new with each egg I created.
My first pysanka
In some ways it is an art form perfectly suited to my temperament: I am stubborn, so I enjoy the challenge of the detail involved in the work. It’s very geometric and ordered, but it’s highly expressive and evocative of nature as well. I love anything related to folk art in general – I have practiced making temari, another folk art of Japanese origin, for nearly as long. (I learned from a talented family friend, Susan Watts, who teaches monthly workshops in San Jose.)
When I’m not making pysanky or temari, working, ice skating, metal detecting, or obsessing over making the perfect French macaron, I can usually be found napping or spooning my cat.