The Ukrainian Doves of Peace Pysanka was designed in the leadup to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As pysanky writers came together to share designs and inspiration, and send their hard work together to fundraise for Ukraine, Nolie created this pattern, to fundraise, both by submitting the pysanka to collections such as Pysanky for Peace, now on display at the Wenham Museum, and through the pattern’s free-for-donation distribution. Now, you too can adopt one of these beautiful, Art Nouveau inspired pysanka as your own, even if you are not a pysanky writer. Money from each sale will be donated to RAZOM  or other organizations on the ground supporting Ukrainians, to whom Nolie Marie Wilson owes a great deal, for the origin of this priceless art form, which is as much a part of Nolie’s soul as their Jewish observances.

The Doves of Peace was inspired by the tesselation designs for wallpaper that Escher created.In it, I have merged traditional motifs symbolizing peace with the Ukrainian flag. This pysanka design has been seen in coverage of the Pysanka for Peace project, including in NPR, the Boston Globe, CBS, NBC, and more. Each variation of this is one of a kind, adapted to the shell it’s on with Nolie Wilson’s unique expertise with pysanky. Although not a true spiral, the Ukrainian flag motifs create the illusion of one from many angles- and a pinwheel from others. This unique pysanka can keep you turning for hours, looking at the interplay of the birds’ spins, outlines, the backgrounds’ twirls. Each shell is signed, and dated iwth the exact date it was begun (for maximum visibility), to allow the viewer to remember that with every day of war comes the incalculable loss, of each precious life stolen with every passing day. The very first eggshell in this serious was made on the very day Russia invaded, and this design will only be produced until the war is over, and Ukraine has what its people need to heal.