Asemic Collage

Last Works & Mail Arts

Yamdrok Lake Tibet-China

Vienna RATHAUS

Blue is BACH!

Symbols

It has been again a lot of time since the last time I had something to write. I am terribly sorry for that! Not because this blog has thousands of followers and I do let them down by not writing BUT it is because I lose easily my self discipline! And I, after all these years, find myself again as I used to be when I was in high school. The very same girl who waited until the last day before the big exam for studying and learning everything by heart! The thing is that I was very good in doing that! I would simply study the headlines and get one of the best grades amongst my classmates.  And I never, never had discipline! BUT always have been one of the best!!! 

Of course, this attitude or let say habit, becomes a part of you and you live like that for all your life. And that's me!!! 

So, today after a long time I went to ARTS-IN and Meral was there. After kissing and hugging each other, she reminded me of the two projects that are about to start. One was ''That's Where I Go'' and the other one was '' Symbols''...

I was not in the mood and didn't know what to do but still I sat down and tried to find something. I went through the pages of some books and magazines. And after doing some exercises I came out with this: 

I think this work incorporates different kinds of symbols. It has geometric symbols which have different meanings in different parts of the world. And on top of everything it has writings which ARE symbols themselves! To be honest I loved this work of mine and I will create a set of this kind of work in different colors. 

Hope you like it! 

From Datça, Osman's Photo Exhibition to Italy

Oh yeah!!! Travelling is what I do for living but I like to travel also for pleasure, without groups, just for myself. I always loved it, did it when I had time and money and still doing whenever I can.
My first trip was with Osman, for his photo exhibition in DATÇA. Datça as I have been writing in my previous posts is a wonderful area of Turkey. It's very close to the point where Mediterranean meets Aegean Sea. All peninsula has a very strong energy flow, I could feel it all the time that I was there. So spending some days there has been definitely very rewarding in every sense of the word.
The exhibition was very good. The opening cocktail was very nice and simple. Wine and local fruits, nice people interested in arts, local authorities like the mayor of Datça added a lot of meaning to our important day.
One of the most beautiful moments of the opening was the speech given by the very much loved and respected painter Mr. İbrahim Çitftioğlu. Mr. Çiftçioğlu, explained the difference between taking pictures and being a PHOTOGRAPHER as an artist... Boy!!! That was a very good speech!!! I simply love Mr. Çiftçioğlu and love his art too!!!

This is Osman Erk

Mr. Çiftçioğlu giving his speech

Osman giving his speech

Osman signing his book 

Listening to Mr. Çiftçioğlu

So that has been a wonderful day. We enjoyed every moment of it... 

My second trip was to Italy. Where exactly? We went to Tuscany and Umbria, we stayed in small medieval towns in Umbria. We stayed in a typical Tuscan farm house for the wedding of Osman's friend daughter. That was magical. A ''dream come true'' for me. I will post some photos from those beautiful days later.  

From ARTS-IN Today...

Oh my GOD!!! Time really flies!!! Flies sooo fast! I can't even remember when was the last time I posted something on my blog. I will check that detail soon but it is NOT because I am lazy. Well to be honest I like to have some lazy days, like everybody else, but this time it was not because I had unplugged myself! I was not in the mood of doing anything. All I could do was to sit down and watch the TV, the only channel that showed the manifestations against government. And in the evenings I wanted to be there in TAKSİM, at the GEZİ PARK to support young people standing for the tress and for their rights. I stood with them. And the violent police attacked with tear gas, pressured water and all imaginable legal/illegal chemicals...That's true!!! Chemicals!!! That's a shame! And everything started with trees. Young people started to sleep in the last park of the city centre in order to keep the digging machines out of the park.  Because there is a horrible project of building another shopping mall in the place where now we have the last park of our city centre. After some days, in very early morning, police attacked them, destroying their tents and burning down some of their belongings. That was hursh!!! So people of Istanbul, wanted to be with them to support them. And everything turned into a series of protests against our government, especially PM ERDOGAN! To be clear with you, I have NEVER seen any government as hungry as this is! They destroy everything for the sake of the money.
They sold everything we have: Mines, coastal areas, forests, factories, other industrial entities... Anything that could be turned into money, had been sold until today. They are building everywhere... They are killing our nature. Literally!!! So I was not in the mood of doing anything else...
Bu today, I went to ARTS-IN... Ohhh!!! That was good! I saw MERAL and TURKAN. They were there painting and listening to music. I joined them and did some very poor watercolor things...I can hardly call them paintings so I just say things. So here they are:

This is Triopia, where we stayed with Osman

BlueI

BlueII

Abstract Blue

Asemic From Big Sketch Book Mix Media

Istanbul Mail Art Project is over... And a beautiful MAIL ARTWORK arrived today...My first personal mail artwork...HAPPY!!!

Today at ARTS-In Istanbul we had a different day. Generally we have a very cheerful atmosphere in the gallery and we are always in a very very positive mood. Bu today was somehow different. You could feel it!!!  We were happy-cheerful  and sad at the same time... We were happy because our gallery had been enlightened with precious artworks from all over the world for more than two weeks. Seeing all those beautiful, clever, shocking, unique, classical, modern, abstract, conceptual artworks around us, on our walls, pouring upon us from our ceiling has been an incredible experience for all of us. But we were sad at the same time because it was all over!!! Meral carefully took down all artworks from their places. She collected them, one by one in a very beautiful dossier. That is going to be our ''mail art archives''. That even can be the first corner stone of our dream ''mail art museum'' :)) So here are some pictures from this special day of ours. Thank you to all!!! 

Meral taking down the artworks

Meral putting everything in a dossier

Our mail art archives

Türkan, happy... I LOVE OIL PAINTİNG smile!

Still happy

Another subject now:
Today is a special day for me! Because I received my first ''personal'' mail art piece... Keith S. Chambers sent me a very impressive artwork and a package of goodies... Things like stamps, cigar labels and some headlines from newspapers...I am definitely going to use them for my artworks...Thank you Keith!!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE SPECIAL FOR ME! 
So here are some pictures of this first mail art arrived today...

Front

Back

Envelope

Goodies

From my Sketch Book

Salute to Klee I

Salute to Klee II

Pink Vase

Asemşc Letter in Colors

Island Boat

Living Room I

Living Room II

Everybody says that having a small sketch notebook helps to maintain creativity alive. Having a notebook and pen/pencil/etc in your hands, stimulates the creative part of our brain.
So a few days ago, I started this small, pocket size notebook. With my colored brush pens, I am putting on paper the color combination of whatever I see around. I started with my living room. Apart from that, I did some doodles imitating Klee's BAUHAUS paintings...

microbo.net ... MİCROBOOK PROJECT

Everything started last autumn.
I started to join ARTS-IN team for my activities and MERAL, the motivator, told that there was this project of art in MİLANO. It was my first ''THING''... The good thing was that every single art work sent there, was going to be displayed at an art gallery in MİLANO. The place was of ASSOCIAZIONE CIRCUITI DINAMICI... If you google them, you'll see that this is a very active art and design projects association. I love them. They are honest and serius about what they do.
My microbook was what you see above. I called it ''THE SOUND OF MUSIC'' MICROBOOK.
That was my first! And then I started to do more notebooks called SOUND OF MUSIC. I'll post them too...
So here it is... MY FIRST DISPLAYED ARTWORK EVER!!!

Another Day in ARTS-IN

Well...It's been a while that we, four of us, didn't come together at the gallery. We all had our reasons... First of all Türkan's brother, who lives in Izmir, had an operation and Türkan was naturally busy to take care of the patient and the rest of the family. Hilal, who has a very talented son, is always busy, she runs here and there to keep everything in order. She was at the gallery on Tuesday BUT I was not there... I had a ''GIRLS BREKFAST'' at my best friends house, with 5 other friends, so I couldn't join ARTS-IN team. Meral, the motivator, is most of the time at the gallery. She lives on one of the islands of Istanbul and she spends a lot of time at the gallery. Now that we have our exhibition on MAIL ART, she comes to ARTS-IN 4 days a week.
These three ladies I mentioned above are the founders of this art heaven. Apart from them, we have other friends who share the place with us. Like Gülcan for example... She is a very good oil painter... Then there is Öznur, whose collages are the best; she will give us a course on monochrome painting next week.
Every Tuesday and Thursday we, the ARTS-IN artists, meet at the gallery. We work together, we talk, laugh and share the best time of our lives. We learn a lot from books, from art works which arrive from all over the world and especially from each other. I feel very lucky to be with them sharing this wonderful atmosphere.
OK... Now the last works of mine!!!
Well, honestly speaking my last few days are gone reading a lot about watercolor technique.  I always dreamed of doing nice sketches and coloring them with watercolors. BUT, I am terrible!!! I am definitely the worst watercolor-lover of the history of mankind!!! I should give it up BUT I simply can't!!! That's my dream!!! I always envied those people who sit in a quite corner in one of the mighty temples of, for example, BAGAN in MYANMAR and start to do some quick sketches and then add some colors here and there easily... I am not one of them!!! I struggle...But with watercolor, you shouldn't struggle... You should set yourself free and just do it! BUT I can't let myself go! I try!!! And I try... No way!!! But one day I'll do it! Hopefully in this lifetime:))
So here is the collage I did today... Everything started with the map of METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART NEW YORK... So here it is...

Osman Erk's Photo Exhibition

The countdown has already started! The big day is approaching and I am getting excited day by day. Osman, my significant other, is a photographer. Although he doesn't call himself an ''artist'',  I know he is a very good one and he has a wonderful eye!!! I am very much fond of his art. And this summer, is going to be a special one because he is opening a photo exhibition at UKKSA, near the wonderful town of DATÇA.
UKKSA is an International Art Academy in one of the most beautiful regions of Turkey. That's the place where Egean Sea meets Mediterranean. That's the place where the city called KNIDOS was born. And the whole area is one of the last secluded places in western Turkey. The nature still keeps its wilderness. You still can HEAR THE SİLENCE flowing between the almond trees that cover all the hills. And I simply love the place!
The funny thing is that, when we were there, in DATÇA, in autumn of the last year, we didn't have any idea that such academy existed! While driving around, we ended up in front of this incredible sculpture garden, that proved to be the fruit of a refined taste. But we didn't know who the people were and what the garden was. The first time we saw the garden, we didn't have time to stop and explore it because I was determined to catch the sunset in ancient KNIDOS. On our way back, we drove past again the garden. But this time it was late and dark. So we said, OK NEXT TİME!!! By saying next time we meant next year... BUT GOD had other plans! So the next day, driving again, I chose another road. We drove along the coast and after that I decided to take another smaller road which seemed to be a shortcut. Yes it was!!! And it took us directly in front of the sculpture garden AGAIN!!! We HAD TO STOP this time!!! That was a kind of sign! And we did stop there. While visiting the place and taking pictures of the modern sculptures placed in the garden, we could hear BACH's Cello Suits, from some of the workshops inside. Perfect!!! Nature, art and Bach!!! I fell in love with the place that moment. And told Osman: I can live here forever! BUT that was not the end! The real surprise came after that! The founder of UKKSA happened to be one of the old friends of Osman!!! And he was there! So you can fill in the rest!!!
If you want to know more about UKSSA and the organizations go to  http://ukksakademi.com/
Osman's Exhibition is going to be between June 15th-30th. The subject is ''LINES'' ...
We are excited...And happy!!! Which is more important!!! 

Collage Day

Penguins

Leap of Faith

Miracle

Icebergs Around South Sandwich Island

May 13th Works

Asemic Letter

                                                                 

Towards the Sun

Asemic May 13th