sketches, at last

Well my friends, here you go— sketches! I've been slowly sketching away from time to time, though not as often as I used to. Life has gotten in the way, as it can. I still have quite a few sketches from the Trabzon trip to share, and those will be coming soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these spreads.

One: the flight attendant with the very tight trousers, on the way to Antakya.
Two: some lovely finds in the Hatay Archaeological Museum.
Three: a woman in the butcher shop in Antakya, baklava in Istanbul.
Four: tile pattern in Rüstem Paşa Camii, and some Turkish coffee in Eminönü.
Five: man cleaning the floors of the Yeni Camii courtyard, glass of çay.
Six: lovers in the park in Sultanahmet, sheep and mosque in Karaağaç köy.

I suspect things won't calm down until I am on that flight to Kathmandu, which is coming up in a blink of an eye. In the shadow of the Stupa, I feel like I'll be able to breathe again.

little pieces of stone

I did little reading about Antakya before I hopped on the plane, but the one thing I did discover during a lazy internet search, is that the city has a to-die-for collection of mosaics from the region. The Hatay Archaeological Museum is home to some of the most stunning mosaics I have ever seen, which date back to somewhere between the second and fifth centuries CE. What was once walked upon, is now displayed on clean, white walls for us to behold as the great works of art that they are. Between the groups of awestruck, murmuring tourists, hangs a great sense of calm— the quiet, light-filled rooms leave you space to meditate on the faces of gods, nymphs, and people long passed.



Such expression, captured in little pieces of stone.