Looking West towards Ciftlik
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on Card
Today is the opening of my exhibition in Kayakoy. I’m keyed up so last night I painted this landscape of the view over Ciftlik and Yaniklar that we see from the path where we often walk our dogs, Zara and Ziggy. All those blues and greens are very calming and I managed to enjoy several stress free hours. This morning, I’ve put my organising head back on, so please wish me luck!
If you can make it, it would be great to see you!
Kaya cottages
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card
There is a water fountain on the main road through Kayaköy and a dusty alley at the side leads to Sarniç, our favourite restaurant. Just before the entrance you can see, on the left hand sıde, some occupied cottages among the ruins.
Meis
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card
Meis is a small Greek island close to the Turkish town of Kas. It was well known in the local expat community as the easiest place to visit to renew their 90 day visa. With the introduction of cheap residents permits all that changed overnight. Most of the visitors now take the short ferry ride just to experience a very pretty and relaxing place for a day or maybe two.
Fethiye Bay
24″ x 18″ Acrylic on canvas
This is the larger canvas promised in my post of the 18th April. It came together just as I wanted although I experienced all my usual issues over how much detail to include, still I am very pleased with the end result. I’ve just taken it to the framers and on the way back I decided that I like this view so much I will paint a even larger one!
This subject is very unusual for my blog but I just had to post it as I find these developments so alarming. The proliferation of fixed and mobile video recording devices into our daily lives is intrusive enough but the Google Glass project sticks us firmly into the world of Big Brother.
This mockup based on a photo provided by Google shows one possible result of their wearable computer catching on for use by more than just adults
And where next? Maybe we should implant a sensory microchip into the body at birth. It will be for our benefit, after all…….
This is most positive view I could find of the latest technologies epitomised by Google Glass……scary enough, you might think.
To quote Nicholas Negroponte in Being Digital,
These technologies will evolve into “a digital butler… [it] recognises callers, disturbs you when appropriate, and may even tell a white lie on your behalf. The same agent is well trained in timing, versed in finding the opportune moments, and respectful of idiosyncrasies.”
In the future, wearable technologies will help us manage our lives, keep us in tune with our bodies through on-body sensors, augment our minds and allow us to be more independent of the physical desktop computing infrastructure that currently limits us.
Like nearly every online service, Google’s greatest sleight of hand was to make us all think of ourselves as Google customers, when in reality we – or more accurately, data about us – are Google’s product. Advertisers are the customers, generating around 96% of Google’s revenue.
In this arrangement, we used free services, and – current anti-trust investigations aside – if we didn’t like the deal, we could choose to use a different service. Google Glass tips that choice on its head.
Now the people making the choice are the ones wearing Glass, but whoever asked what the Glass sees for its permission to be monitored? And don’t think for a second you’re in control of the data from your own Glass. You’re just a conduit for data collection.
It makes CCTV cameras look trivial. Here is a real-time, always-on, internet-connected data stream being fed in – not from a fixed position on a building, but from among our everyday lives. The person next to you isn’t just another commuter any more, they’re a Google agent. What they see, Google sees and can use, store and, after that, who knows? Facial recognition analysis? Your picture on a billboard? In reality, it is an academic question. If there’s someone willing to pay for it, it will almost inevitably happen.
Choice is key to trust in the digital economy and Glass doesn’t just challenge our assumptions about consent, it challenges whether we even have a choice any more. And that can’t be good for anyone.
For a very comprehensive analysis of the issues read Ed Champions blog here www.edrants.com/thirty-five-arguments-against-google-glass/
SOLD
Watercolour, 10″ x 8″
Poppy2
Watercolour 10″ x 8″
I’ve been laid low with Man Flu this week, in my case a particularly virulent summer cold, the first I’ve had since arriving in Turkey so I shouldn’t complain. However it’s not easy to paint with streaming eyes so I apologise for the lack of posts this week. I’m more or less back now but, considering the state of my head and all that liquidity about, I thought it more appropriate to get the watercolours out and tackle something simple.
Gelidonya 3
10″ x 8″ acrylic on card
A Lighthouse on a sunny day is a bit useless other than as as a navigation mark or a tourist attraction, so my final interpretation of Gelidonya creates the storm that defines it’s existence. I’ll possibly come back to Gelidonya again but I must get on with the larger canvas of Fethiye bay. The temperatures have soared to 35C + in the last couple of days, not a great time to sit in full sun so I need to rig up some shade on the hillside before I can get on. It’s very steep and rocky there so I need to get my thinking cap on.
Gelidonya 2
10″ x 8″ acrylic on card
This is my second interpretation of Gelidonya Lighthouse from a different viewpoint and using a different palette.
125K from Fethiye and a notable landmark on the Lycian way, Gelidonya Lighthouse is situated on an dangerous cape east of Finike and due south of the site of Olympus. It makes an attractive subject for painting as there are few Turkish lighthouses situated in such a dramatic setting. We are not spoilt with them like those who live around the Atlantic coastline.
A brief history can be discovered on this sign at the site. To summarise
Costruction began in 1934 and it was lit in 1936, fueled by Kerosene until 1990 and ?? since then. It flashes every 3 secs. and has been run by the Demir family since 1944.
Gelidonia Headland and the islands are very important to Lycia’s geography and the history of navigation. It’s the most dangerous part of the Bay of Antalya due to opposing currents and to pass was quite hard (I bet!!) in antique times. The flows have pulled many ships onto the rocks and have changed the place to an underwater cemetary (sic)…..
Gelidonya Lighthouse 1
10″ x 8″ acrylic on card
My first painting has again been done with a very restricted choice of turquoise, yellow, red and white and although there is limited potential when mixing acrylic paints, I hope and feel that I have managed to convey a sense of harmony in this landscape after making that decision.