Acrylic on card, 8″x12″

During my recent vısıt to Koycegiz, I grabbed a photo of the fantastıc Eucalyptus trees that tower over the  Tourist Offıce. They are common enough but their sheer size is always impressive. Strangely, and I wonder about the trivia stored in my head, but as I painted in the black and white structure of these trees I had an unsettling sense of deja vu. Eventually I realized that a melting clock draped over a branch would conjure up a Dali landscape. The surrealism faded as the foliage grew.

Merry Xmas and may the coming year

bring you health, happiness

and wonderful times!

The Flora Hotel, Koycegiz, Nr. Dalaman.
8″ x 12″ Acrylic on card

One of the very few things I miss about the UK is fishing for wild trout in the mountain rivers and lakes of Snowdonia. Although I have my fly fishing tackle here I haven’t found anywhere to cast a line but then, while searching the web for possible places, I saw the huge carp in Koycegiz lake. I’m not a carp fisherman but, as it’s only 60k from Fethiye, off I went for a three day visit. This is not going to be just another fishy tale as I caught nothing – Koycegiz Lake is huge and you need plenty of skill and experience to find the fish, let alone catch any – but it is a stunning place.  You also need a boat as virtually the whole perimeter is lined with rushes so I was lucky to meet Alp, the owner of the Flora Hotel, where I stayed and who provided suitable equipment.  When returning as the sun set at the end of a clear, calm November day I took the photo which I used to create this painting.

The Fethiye Friday market was really special today, a profusion of winter vegetables sat alongside seasonal delicacies like dried figs and walnuts, such a heavenly combination. But today, in the sunshine, the market was full of wild çintar mushrooms, the saffron milk cap or lactarius deliciosus, which have a woody, meaty taste. They develop green patches when handled, which can be offputting, but fear not, they are superb.

Cintar mushrooms. 20 x 16cms. Acrylic on card.

They appear in pine forests after the rain and we’ve had 3″ of that in the last couple of days! For about £2 we were tempted into buying a kilo, too much to eat certainly but you can’t begrudge these old village women a couple of lire by buying any less. Tonight, we will wash and dry them carefully and then saute with garlic in a dash of newly pressed, and still slightly cloudy, olive oil. After 7 or 8 minutes we’ll whack in some cream and serve them on toast with scrambled eggs and some fried Proscuttio. I can’t wait!