palace

In the happy absence of rain, I decided to play tourist today at the fabulous Dolmabahçe Palace. The newness of a place can fade when you've lived in it for a while, but I've never had a problem with this. I still visited Golden Gate Park with wonder, even though I had lived in San Francisco for four years. Sure, it wasn't the wide-eyed wonder of visiting the Tea Gardens or the Conservatory for the very first time, but I still got excited every time I saw that white dome rise over the treetops.

I have been to Dolmabahçe many times in my life since I was seven, but I still feel like I see it for the first time each visit. I love being a tourist. I love that feeling of discovery— and taking loads of pictures— I ended up with 144! Ah, the joys of digital. I couldn't get through all of them tonight, so here is a little preview of what's to come:

evet, hamster var.

I went to Eminönü in search of a rope to climb— you see, I miss my trapeze training and I was hoping I could at least keep up with some rope tricks until I get a trapeze of my own to practice on. I instead left Eminönü with a hamster.

Behind the Spice Bazaar is a labyrinth of streets with tiny shops that sell everything from pets to hammocks to coffee. It's a remarkable place if you don't mind squeezing your way through crowds in tiny spaces. I find the pet section a little upsetting as I hate seeing animals in cages, but I thought I'd brave it to surprise my little sister with a hamster.

Not knowing what the Turkish word for "hamster" is, I had hoped it was also "hamster"— many Turkish words are the same as or similar to English and French words but phonetically spelled: telefon, otel, otobus. I asked a shopkeeper with my best Turkish accent, "Hamster var mi?" To my delight he replied "Evet, hamster var."— Yes, there are hamsters. Hamster is hamster.

I want to mention quickly that all the flags in the pictures above are from opposing political parties vying for votes in the local elections on the 29th. The city has been lying underneath webs of flags of all colours with party logos and representatives' faces, and party minivans have been patrolling the streets blasting music for over a month now. Some of the music sounds quite pop-like, that I wonder if they are political or just pop songs.



The first painting was the last 365 still life I did before the migraine on the 7th. Today was the first day since that I have felt clear-headed and human, so I picked up where I left off with this unusual pear. I'll replace this image with a better-lit one tomorrow. It's almost two in the morning and I'm getting sleepy. The hamster however, has discovered its wheel and shows no sign of stopping.

ottoman inspired

These are my entries in Jan Allsopp's Moleskine for Moly-X48. I was inspired by Ottoman textile patterns and fashion, taking some traditional motifs and putting a little twist on them. I've been having a lot of fun creating stories for my Moly-X48 entries— the use of the pocket sketchbook Moleskine instead of the Japanese folding Moleskine has been great for this, I can tell a story over three spreads. Check out my other Moly-X48 stories here.

I think on the second spread I am going to outline the backgound tulips in black— I originally didn't because I wanted her spread to be different somehow, but when I see them all together now, I feel that it needs to be outlined. Hm...
Ok. I outlined the background tulips in black. I do like it better this way.

salted green apples

There was a brief bit of blue today which felt encouraging. Then it rained again. Torrential at times, complete with rumbling thunder. After snapping this photo, I turned around to discover a group of about 80 white storks flying in the distance. They were easy to spot with their outstretched necks and legs, silently floating beneath the clouds. Spring is on its way.

My 365 Challenge has fallen behind due to a nasty three-day migraine I've been recovering from. I felt devastated that I wasn't keeping up with the painting, but I just couldn't. I've decided that I'll paint an extra painting a day to make up for those missing days, since my goal is to have 365 pieces. Tomorrow I'll have some work to post— still lifes and a Moly entry. I have four Moleskines I'm working on right now: Anna's from Moly-X13, Jan's from Moly-X48, Chensio's from Moly-X34 and my own book for Moly-X64. I know I've got some more on the way, this is the challenge of being in eight exchanges, but I love it and feel that I keep the books rolling.

Anna Denise's Moly for Moleskine Exchange 13.

rain, rain, go away!

india ink

Here is my first entry in my book for Moleskine Exchange 50. I wanted to go back to black and white, working with Winsor & Newton India ink, and old love of mine. Here's a close up:

And here is a preview of my entry in Jan Allsopp's book for Moleskine Exchange 48:

the first storks

Today was a fine day for brunch at a palace. Yes, a palace. The Çırağan Palace was a waterfront Ottoman palace that was turned into a hotel in the nineties, renovated in 2007 and looks spectacular. Crystal chandeliers and balustrades glitter beneath ornately painted ceilings and outside enormous windows, the Bosphorus sparkles beyond palms.



Brunch was a divine buffet with everything you could hope for— blini and salmon, sushi, stuffed artichokes, cheeses, eggs in every style, pastries, foie gras and oh so much more! I started with a mini spinach eggs benedict, blini with roe and cream, a sushi roll, smoked salmon, a scallop and a delicious piece of raw fish. Then I went back for the stuffed artichokes, potatoes and cheeses of course. My delightful meal was finished off with a strawberry macaron, a mini crème brûlée, a syrupy pastry and a delicately flavoured pudding topped with mint and pomegranates. Heavenly. In between plates I sketched the view from my table of the palace's waterfront gate:

Once home, to my joy, I saw the first white storks returning from their winter migration to Africa. There were around 60 or so of the large graceful birds flying across the Bosphorus from the Asian side, right over my house. They were so close, I could see their eyes and feathers. Soon there will be hundreds riding the thermals over Istanbul. It is truly an impressive sight, mythical even, to see these creatures with such elegant long necks and huge powerful wings float silently by. I've looked forward to the stork migration since childhood, and this is the first time in over a decade that I've been in Istanbul at the right time. Seeing them today brought back a warm feeling of wonder inside me that I haven't felt since I was little.

I had to draw these after the fact— I was to awestruck to pick up a pen.

365 challenge

Now I don't know whether or not I can realistically keep this up, but the plan is that I do a small 15cm x 20cm oil painting a day. Should I go on vacation, I am not sure how I will travel with oils and canvasboard— I prefer to use a board rather than stretched canvas for this project to keep the size down. I have some travelling ideas involving a vial of linseed oil, a tightly sealed palette and plastic wrap, but nothing practical yet. We'll see. Here are the first four:

It's been a while since I've used oil paints so I am a bit out of practice, but I'm pretty pleased with the results so far. I'll be getting all the practice I need!

supermarket

I love supermarkets. I love all the neatly stacked brightly coloured packages of soaps and cereals, the piles of produce and shelves of oil tins. This is probably why I take so long to grocery shop, I'm too busy wandering through the aisles staring at everything.

happy wednesday

The sun finally came out and I went to the Yeniköy Spor Kulübü for a little sketching. There is this elegant old lady that always sits at the same table in her dark fur coat and pearls. She reads everything in the paper over a glass of tea. As I was sketching her in my Moly, the sweet elderly gentleman that I believe might be the owner, came up to me with a sheet of paper and motioned to me to draw his fabulous customer. Once I was finished in my sketchbook, I drew her again for him. When I was done, a big smile spread across his face and he rushed off to give the drawing to her. I always get a little nervous that people might not like the way I've drawn her, but when I saw look of shock turn into happiness, my day was made.



Once home, I started working on turning a spare room into my new studio. It has plenty of light in the daytime, and is large enough to do whatever I please on whatever sized canvas I choose. In addition to the beautiful large canvases, I bought some 15 cm by 20 cm canvas boards that I am going to use for my attempt at doing a painting a day. I don't know how long I can keep it up, but I am going to try my hardest to do 365 small oil paintings. Here's the first:


The day got even better when a package from Mexico arrived with two Mollies inside for me to work on. Fellow Moleskine Exchanger Yoda Navarrete, sent me a book for Exchange 34 and 48, both look more amazing in person than on Flickr. I haven't the foggiest what I should follow these exquisite entries with.