MASURY, Ohio - It's called pysanky, a Ukrainian art that features intricate, hand-made designs on eggs.

You could call Carol Novosel of Masury an expert on the art as she's been decorating eggs since she was a child.

"It's fascinating as an art because you're working on three dimensions," Novosel said. "It's like water color. You dye it. You can't change it. You have to think, you have to compose. This has taught we everything about color."

Each egg has a meaning behind the color and design.

"Orange is wisdom, yellow's the sun and happiness, black is the night and means protection," Novosel explained. "For example, if i etch a deer, I'm wishing you prosperity and food. If I use blue and green, that means health. When I package my eggs, I write all of the meanings down with them and a lot of people buy them for the meaning as much as for the design. 

Eggs are historically thought as good luck in the Ukrainian culture. Ukrainian ancestors commonly etched a symbol of the sun on anything they believed had magical powers, like an egg.

"The egg would burst forth with new life and they thought, 'that tree cant be a man, that dog can't come from that rock but this egg can make a chicken this egg could make new life it's magic," Novosel explained. 

Novosel picked up the art from her grandmother. "Ladies in her generation would make them very simply and put them on hard boiled eggs and break them to eat for Easter," Novosel said.

Novosel say the artwork in a magazine publication in 1972 and it inspired her to make her eggs look that intricate and advanced. Now, 50 years later, she has had her own work published in magazines.

She is now teaching new generations and hoping the art form never dies as it's an expression of her culture.

She has created over 19,000 pysanky and has made custom pieces for celebrities including Bill Clinton. She also has some of her work as sleeves for Ukrainian children to design their own eggs with. 

"I take a lot of pride in my heritage and in my Aunt Carol," said Jill Fulmer, Novosel's niece. "Ever since I was little I remember even going to school and saying, 'wait until you see what my aunt does with eggs. I was proud of that because not everybody has that to share."

Fulmer's son Matthew often observes his great Aunt Carol's artwork and paints creations of his own, hoping to eventually try creating his own pysanky. 

Novosel continues to design eggs as a symbol of hope for the country of Ukraine.

"Ukraine is used to aggression," Novosel explained. "It was the bread basket, it is the bread basket. They are sturdy. The country itself, one way or another with survive."

The 35th Annual Ukrainian Egg Festival will be held on Sunday, April 10 from 1-4 p.m. at St. John's Church in Sharon. 

You can purchase Novosel's work at the festival or email her at carolnovoselart@gmail.com.