Egg decorating triggers fond memories for Burquitlam man
I finally remembered this after 60 years, that these were treasures that we had when I was a kid. MIKE VINTER ARTISAN
It was the end of Mike Vinter’s working days that prompted him to hatch a second career in the arts that’s kept him busy for the past 20 years: designing ornamental eggs.
The 82- year- old wasn’t artistically inclined in his youth — he “hated painting” in years past — but some prompting from his daughter led him toward an art form that is widely practised across central and eastern Europe.
“I doubted that I would be interested, but I got hooked on it,” he said.
Vinter’s process begins with selecting an egg; typically he opts for a chicken egg, although he also has used eggs from quails, ostriches and geese.
From there, he draws melted beeswax onto the egg with a tool called a Kistka before applying up to three layers of dye. He then uses an instrument similar to a lathe to draw his patterns. As an avid gardener, it’s not surprising that the majority of Vinter’s designs reflect some type of floral theme. Some of his eggs also follow specific patterns or shapes. Others are covered in Vancouver Canucks colours and logos.
“I try to make them as colourful as possible,” he said.
Born in the former Czechoslovakia, Vinter was first exposed to the time- honoured tradition by his grandmother.
“When I was a kid growing up back in Prague, my grandmother, who was in her late 70s, used to send us these coloured eggs,” he said.
“They really became a family treasure.”
Given the length of time that had passed since then, Vinter had all but forgotten about the eggs, let alone attempting to decorate them. It wasn’t until the early ’ 90s when his daughter — a teacher in Squamish — asked him if he was interested in helping her decorate the eggs she was working on.
That simple query triggered memories that had been lost for decades.
“At the time my daughter showed me all of this, I finally remembered this after 60 years, that these were treasures that we had when I was a kid,” he said.
Vinter dove headfirst into the artistic process, and was selling his eggs at Place des Arts the year after he began learning the craft. Since then, he has sold eggs typically on a seasonal basis — at Easter and around Christmas — through the Maillardville-based arts centre and at his Burquitlam home.
“I get so much pleasure out of this. My time just goes so fast when I’m making them. I go down into the basement and start on it, and my wife doesn’t see me for three hours. I figure if I don’t come up, I might have a divorce on my hands,” he joked.
Vinter’s eggs sell for $ 15 each or $ 150 per dozen.