An ideal work studio for a pysankarka would be in a sunny area, with lots of room for dyes and other supplies.  But I don’t live in an ideal world, and my studio is in my basement.  It’s in a nice, large space, and I have music and video to amuse me, but still......it can get chilly and damp there.  I run a dehumidifier in the summer to bring down the humidity (to keep my books dry and let my varnished eggs dry out quicker).

The temperature I find to be less of a bother.  I can put on a sweater in the winter, and, in the summer, cool is good.  So I never worried about the temperature until one year, in early spring, as I was writing pysanky I noticed that the wax kept coming off when I dyed my eggs. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.  I tried different eggs, I tried prepping them differently, I changed wax, I even mixed up some new dyes.  No luck.

Then I remembered that I’d recently changed the light bulb in my work light from an incandescent bulb to a fluorescent one.  I switched back, and the wax stuck as it should. Success!  But why?  Ambient temperature. The incandescent bulb was much warmer than the fluorescent one, and kept my work area a few degrees warmer. 

I don’t take chances any more.  I now have a thermometer set up in my work area, and a small space heater.  I turn it on if the temperature at my table is less than 70°F, and run it to keep it above that level. And I’ve had no more issues with the wax sticking.

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