Each year, one artist is selected to represent Summerfest Arts Faire and to be featured at the festival. This artist’s work appears on the Summerfest Arts Faire poster and the front of this program booklet. The artist chosen as best in show in the previous year becomes the featured artist the following year.

My name is Chris Spencer and I have been involved in the art of making Ukrainian Easter Eggs (pysanky) for almost 6 years although I learned about this art almost 25 years ago.

In my previous life, I was a junior high and high school French teacher in a rural community in Saskatchewan, Canada. A large majority of the town had Ukrainian ancestry and most of my students had parents or grandparents who spoke some Ukrainian. Ukrainian culture was a large part of life in this community. For Easter, the tradition was to decorate Ukrainian Easter eggs and most people would decorate eggs and prepare other items to place in a basket to take to church as a part of their religious Easter celebrations.

Frequently, people from the community would come to the school and teach the kids how to decorate eggs using the traditional wax resist method, using wax and dyes. I was able to learn along with them and thought it was pretty neat.

Fast forward, many years (about 5.5 years ago) I decided to get the necessary materials so that I could decorate these eggs for Easter. I started doing it (with a little help from the internet and Youtube) and was immediately hooked. I found it to be very relaxing and making these eggs allowed me to shut out the noise of the world for a time and just focus on the art. I hadn’t realized I was missing a creative outlet in my life. I spent the next year and a half working on eggs on a daily basis. As I did it more, I got more confident. I would try different designs, both traditional and contemporary, and was having a lot of fun. The planning of the different patterns, the application of the wax, the addition of dyes and the final reveal of the finished product, all are a part of the appeal.

Friends and others started reaching out and asking if I could make them specific designs on an egg to give as gifts. From there, it has been a whirlwind of learning as I started my small business and have been learning lots at the same time as doing markets and events small and large for the past 4 years. The past couple years, I have also started teaching classes which have been a nice return to my past as a teacher and also which has allowed me to share my love of this art and culture with others.

I have enjoyed trying new designs as well as getting out and talking to people who appreciate or are interested in this art. It has been fun to discover a whole community of artists and makers throughout the country and especially our wonderful state, who are so talented and creative but also selfless in sharing their ideas, talents, and business insights. I love to see the looks of wonder of those who see this art either for the first time or again after a long time. Some want to know more and really dive into the process and the details. Some just see beauty and appreciate the delicate and intricate nature of each piece.

There is always still so much to learn. Balancing all the aspects of life and still finding time to do this art continues to be a challenge but the rewards of getting to share something I love with others, far outweigh the negatives.

Presently, my wife, Heidi and I, live in Spanish Fork and are empty nesters. We are blessed with 3 adult children who live nearby as well as a wonderful son in law and daughter in law, an adorable grandson and 3 grand-puppies. My family is wonderfully supportive of my art (even putting up with my Ollivander-esque stacks of eggs all over the house). They will often help me set up and take down for shows and even help man the booth.

When not making ornaments, nativity sets, larger egg based decor, I love to cook and bake, spend time with family, go ice fishing, go camping with family or friends, watch movies (although I listen to them more than watch since I often use them to block out noise when working on eggs) and read romance novels.