Art Form: Pysanky decorating
Location(s): Cedarville (Mackinac County)
Mary Torsky
Portrait of Mary Torsky with her Pysanky
Mary Torsky's Pysanky in progress
Mary Torsky using a stylus to make Pysanky
Mary Torsky using a stylus to make Pysanky
Mary Torsky(1912-2008) first began practicing pysanky at the age of ten. Under the supervision of her mother, an immigrant from the eastern Carpathian Mountains, Mary used straight pins to draw her designs. Only later did Mary acquire a stylus, which she taught herself to use, but she frequently still used straight pins.
Born in West Virginia, Mary was raised in Pennsylvania before marrying her husband in 1930 and moving to Detroit. The pair owned and operated the meat market at Gratiot Central Market (Eastern Market) until 1948. They then moved to Cedarville and opened Torsky's Resort. Concerned with maintaining family and ethnic traditions, Mary taught her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and two daughters-in-law the art of pysanky. "I wanted all my children to be able to decorate eggs." She also went into the schools to teach local children about pysanky. "I have taught people in the community for decades. Their names are too numerous to recall." (1)
Mary was commissioned to decorate an egg with a Michigan theme for an Easter egg display in 1998 in the White House. She applied icons imbued with Christian symbolism that also were characteristic of Michigan: white pine, deer, gulls, and fish. She also added the Mackinac Bridge, and cherries. This egg is now part of the White House permanent collection.
In Mary's family, pysanky were given as gifts to family and friends. Mary would decorate eggs for every occasion and continued the tradition of giving pysanky. In 1999, for example, she decorated 24 Christmas eggs for her grandchildren; she gave each child of her church an egg at Easter in 2000; she presented Governor Engler a Michigan egg similar to that decorated for the White House display. Mary regularly donated eggs for fundraisers.
(1) Torsky, Mary. Cited in Mary Kostecki, Nomination form. December 1999.
