This post will be longer than usual, for me, because I couldn’t edit the photos down to just one or two that I liked. This post is also a week late, as the opening was April 16, and today is the 26th. Sometimes my pictures stay on my camera to distill for awhile. I need a little distance before I can post. Here, above, we have a corner shot with opening attendees. Don’t you love the little mysterious door below my pink painting? Kind of distracting, but oh well. I love how nearly everyone is wearing black except me. Wait until you see my coat in a little bit…
There you have it. The yellow trench, made to match the other painting of mine in the show, Icy Climb. It wasn’t really planned, but I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe a couple glasses of complementary wine helped me feel less self-conscious about it, too. I love the expression on Devrim’s face. Part proud, part smarty-pants. He was the only guy wearing a suit, besides the old fellow below. I loved Devrim’s suit.
Check out this fellow in the suit and hat in the back. He’s great, so much personality in one outfit. He walked in so authoritatively and made his way around the gallery without paying attention to anybody. My kind of viewer.
And here he is again. You might think he is peering thoughtfully at a painting, but really he is standing in front of the wine bar, talking to the bartender. Look at the beautiful tile below his feet. I love the rough worn wood and the inlaid tile next to each other.
My painting, ‘Izmitli’, from another angle. I’m not sure how many people got the title. It was a bit of an inside joke. I live in Izmit, which is an hour and a half away from Istanbul to the European side. To the Asian side, it takes no more than an hour, even in traffic. However, to Istanbullus, Izmit is the New Jersey of New York. Izmit is considered industrial, vile, and sad (because of the 1999 earthquake). I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been looked at in disbelief in Istanbul when I say I live in Izmit. The stereotypes are plentiful, and while Izmit has it’s flaws, it is my home, and I’ve grown to love it. It is strangely always a relief to me to be home after a whirlwind day or weekend in Istanbul. Anyway, I didn’t mean to digress. The point is, I titled the painting ‘Izmitli’, meaning, ‘from Izmit’. And there’s a nice happy factory in there. And everything’s pink. You can decide the meaning. It makes me chuckle. I think I’m the only one.
These photos are in backwards order, because here is the Bosphorus Bridge on our way into Istanbul. I’m always trying to catch the bridge and water and coastline while moving on the bridge. On this day, at 4:30pm, traffic was slow and crowded enough that I could get a few pictures.
The graceful arms of the bridge. Slow traffic.
Can you see the Aya Sophia and Blue Mosque in the background?
And the crowd in front of the gallery. It’s in a beautiful multi-storied building, the first two floors are a gallery, and the ones above house studio space and figure drawing. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello!