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.

the yeni camii, in two sketches

the yeni camii, in four photographs

As friends and fellow sketchers Lapin and Javier are in town, I've been spending my days in a fantastic frenzy of sketching and sight-seeing. One of our first stops was the Yeni Camii, or "New Mosque" which is as new as 1663, when its construction was completed. The Yeni Camii is that impressive, massive mosque in Eminönü, right next to the Spice Bazaar. This marvellous granite and marble structure is home to sixty-six domes and semi domes, two minarets and an enormous central dome with a ceiling of thirty-six meters in height. As you can imagine, it's not easy to draw.

eminönü stories

a monday in eminönü

saturday sublime

Life sometimes unfolds in a marvellous and quiet way.

artist + jewellery designer + turkish coffee

Ms. Shamila Jiwa in front of Yeni Camii in Eminönü.
Shamila's new collection is coming out soon, and is simply stunning.