Samuel Brozina Reveals Passion for Traditional Art

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Samuel Brozina Samuel Brozina

Amateur artist and qualified pilot Samuel Brozina offers a personal insight into his love of dyeing Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Requiring patience and a steady hand, Samuel Brozina credits his passion for dyeing traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs with bringing him closer to his Ukrainian family roots. A traditional hobby enjoyed annually by the amateur artist and his father, Brozina offers a personal insight into his love of the artistic pastime and its history.

“I consider it to be both a relaxing pastime and an excellent creative outlet,” suggests the hobby artist, licensed pilot, and landscaping service foreman from Millville, New Jersey. He has, he says, spent years refining his egg dyeing skills.

Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanka, Brozina explains, are eggs adorned with traditional folk designs, achieved by employing what’s known as a wax-resist method within art. “Pysaty, which means ‘to write’ or ‘to inscribe,’ refers to the way in which the designs are written or inscribed with beeswax, rather than being simply painted on,” adds the expert.

An Easter tradition for Samuel and his family, the Brozinas have enjoyed the hobby since the now-qualified pilot was a young boy. “While my father still tends to stick with more traditional designs, I like to explore my creativity, and many of my eggs represent my personal tastes,” he explains.

“Dyeing Ukrainian Easter eggs, I believe,” Brozina continues, “also draws me closer to the roots of the Ukrainian side of my family.”

The traditional technique, he says, calls for a variety of supplies and special tools. “After several steps of inscribing and dyeing, the finished design is finally revealed,” adds the egg dyeing expert.

Samuel Brozina, from Millville, New Jersey, is a graduate of Millville Senior High School, a comprehensive community public high school located in Cumberland County, New Jersey, and Cumberland County College, a nearby public community college, situated in Vineland.

In addition to his hobby of dyeing Ukrainian Easter eggs, Brozina has long harbored a love of aviation. “I’ve always loved flight and airplanes,” he explains. This has subsequently led him to earn his private pilot license, and, recently, to become the proud owner of an ERCO Ercoupe low-wing monoplane aircraft.

A rare find among American designed and built aircraft, and now out of production for almost half a century, the ERCO Ercoupe was initially marketed as the airplane which anyone could fly. Samuel Brozina’s recent acquisition came from Quakertown, Pennsylvania. “I was able to find a good example for sale in Quakertown,” he explains, “around 50 miles outside of Philadelphia.”

“I’m also an active member of my church choir where I sing bass,” adds Samuel Brozina, wrapping up, “and, for several years, was a keen Revolutionary War reenactor.”

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