Category Archives: Kayaköy

Paintings, stories and news of Kayakoy

Turkey is a Mint

Kayakoy 4 9" x 6" Acrylic on card

Kayakoy 4
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on card

It seems that Turkey has become a MINT!  Like the more familiar acronym BRIC, Turkey has joined with Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria to become one of the future powerhouses of the world economy.  A strange selection of bedfellows, methinks, but read more here or you can listen to the programme on the BBC Radio iPlayer.

The Xmas decorations are back in the attic once more and the New Year Resolutions are in there with them

Kaya Chapel 8" x 6" Framed Acrylic on board

Kaya Chapel
8″ x 6″ Framed Acrylic on board

I’m not really one for making resolutions at New Year as I tend to make them all year round.  You know, must paint more, aim to lose a couple of kilos, see more of Turkey and so on.  This way even if I break them I’m guilt free.  All I need to do is set updated ones and aim at fresh targets.  A New Year doesn’t have the exclusive right to host self criticism, life just isn’t like that.  I don’t say “I must spend more time in the studio” on the 1st January…..I say it every bloody day!

Sarnic Art and Crafts Workshop. Sat 14th December. 10 to 4pm

Kaya Autumn View 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

Kaya Autumn View
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount board

You are all invited with friends and family to a lovely day out this coming Saturday to an art exhibition also attended by potters, carpenters etc in the glorious and historical Sarnic Restaurant in Kaya. You will be given a free glass of hot mulled wine and chestnuts.  Hopefully the weather will be kind, if not, it will be held indoors with the open fire!

For directions: From  Ovacik, follow the winding hill down into Kaya. You will find the water fountain on the left hand side. It is a small, white 3 pillared building. Turn down the little lane by the side and Sarnic is on the right.

Hope to see you there!

Two puppies arrive

Xmas Tree number 4 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

Xmas Tree number 4
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount board

It’s been a hectic week topped off with the arrival of 2 Yorkshire Terrier puppies today.  Gina has been searching for another small dog for a while and then we finally heard of a litter in Yaniklar, only just down the road.  Gina couldn’t pick between the two little girls and decided to have both!  Then, I was asked to show my paintings at an exhibition of English artists at the Sarnic Gallery in Kayakoy starting this Sunday.  It’s also the eve of the Calis Xmas Fair and I am hoping for a successful day tomorrow,  at least the weather forecast is looking great for the Festival.  Meanwhile, I had some cards printed in the UK for our mothers and this was the painting I used.

Lavender

Lavender 8" x 6" Acrylic on mount card

Lavender
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount card

Young farmer and entrepreneur, Barış Özkan from Kayaköy,  bought a couple of hundred lavender plants to try out 3 years ago.  It seems the conditions are perfect up there although it’s not a crop seen locally.  Rapid drainage, alkaline soil, plenty of light, heat, and excellent air circulation are required and  I know it’s produced successfully on the Cesme peinsular and in Isparta.  I not heard anything since and I wonder if he was successful?

Kayakoy Street Craft

The Kaya Lacemaker 10" x 8" Acrylic on card

The Kaya Lacemaker
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card

On the little side lane that leads into the old town from the ancient water fountain in Kayakoyyou will find this lady.  She moves up and down the lane, seeming to occupy in a different position whenever I see her. I assume she lives in one of the nearby cottages and seeks out some shade and a bit of breeze. This is not a busy spot so she sits placidly among the chickens and cats and quietly pursues her craft making lace and jewellery.  I’d like to say I painted this plein air but the 40 C temperatures dictated a quick photo and work later in the studio

Wet in wet

Poppy1 Watercolour, 10" x 8"

SOLD
Watercolour, 10″ x 8″

Poppy2 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.

Hedgehog Happy Hounds

Not much sleep last night after a chorus of all the dogs in the area woke us at 2.30.  Unfortunately it was  started by our pair, Ziggy and Zara doing their best to make us believe they were being tortured with hot needles.  As it turned out that was a fair description.

Opening the door revealed a pattern of bloody spots and paw prints and we thought, oh no, here we go again!  Luckily, all became clear when Gina discovered nothing more sinister than a very large hedgehog. This was deposited in the field opposite and serenity reigned again, well as near as we ever get to it!

Kaya in Motion 24" x 18", Acrylic on canvas

Kaya in Motion
24″ x 18″, Acrylic on canvas

At least the horrible wet weather today enabled me to finish this landscape.  Here, I’m trying to capture some of the spirit of Kayakoy as the changes in the wind move it into another phase.  It’s been out of sight  for a long time, hidden away and quietly corroding, but the future is rushing in as politicians, developers and all the other interested parties begin to unfold their plans and read us their agendas. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.