Tag Archives: Fethiye bay

I’m back at long last

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Fethiye Bay5JPG

Acrylic on Canvas 60cms x 45cms

Well it’s been quite a while!  Where do I begin?  I suppose with where I left off nearly two years ago.  I was given the all clear after 20 weeks of chemotherapy ( protocol Folfox 4 ) which followed six weeks of combined radiotherapy and chemo for 5 days a week up in Antalya, What with the driving and the side effects it wasn’t a pleasant time.

That brings us to January 2015 when I had an operation to reverse my colostomy and six months of recovery and every reason to be optimistic.

Then, in June the doctors found that the cancer had come back. This time it’s in my liver. For an active, fit, teetotal, non-smoker, to say I was shocked and dismayed is an understatement. The current position is that my condition is inoperable and I need chemotherapy every two weeks to manage the cancer. Luckily, I can get this treatment here in Fethiye under the exceptional Dr. Ugur and I have had 20 treatments to date and I’m still standing!  Gina has been brilliant. loving, thoughtful, generous with her care and ever present. I will never be able to thank her enough.

Despite the recent setbacks, I’m restarting this blog as I want to get back in touch with you all and pass on my observations on life here in Fethiye.  In that way I plan to get motivated to paint a bit more often.  For obvious reasons I won’t be posting as frequently.

Fethiye Kordon developments

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Still life from memory 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

Still life from memory
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount board

The sun was shining as I took a walk from here to Calis along the promenade today and things are moving.  The new marina already has 50 or so, small motor boats sparkling as they bobbed about in the breeze.  Workmen were laying more roads and pavements and you can now walk or cycle for an uninterupted 3.7 Kilometres from Fethiye ferry pier. The intrepid can, with suitable footwear, continue along to the newly created Duck Islands. There’s a lot more development to come, including a vast area of former marshland, opposite the Devlet Hospital that was drained and is being raised and levelled.  A few of the new restaurants have already closed for lack of trade, others are expanding and it’s fascinating to watch how much changes on a daily basis.

Trout stream

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Trout stream 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

Trout stream
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount board

Local boat owners agree that the mass of underwater growth fouling their hulls in Fethiye Bay is among the worst in the world,  I have always blamed the water conditions  on the chemical run-off from the  intensive farming in the vicinity and sewage influx.  Then I was very surprised to learn that Turkey is the largest producer of farmed Rainbow trout in Europe.  An aquaculture survey of 3 trout farms in the Xanthos valley provides some interesting reading including the fact that there are more than 50 trout farms in our catchment and a significant ammount of water is fed, via a canal and hydro electric power station, directly into the sea at Fethiye.  The main purpose of the survey is “to predict the existing and future discharge of suspended solids, organic compounds, and nutrients, thereby allowing authorities to quantify the environmental impacts of activities with the greatest accuracy (Frier et al. 1995)”.   I have estimated from this report  that this means over 2000 tons of Nitrogen and 400 tons of Phosphorous are discharged every year.  When you factor in the sunshine and shallow water it’s no wonder we have a problem with algae!

Unseasonal weather

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Before the Storm 12" x 9" Acrylic on mount board

Before the Storm
12″ x 9″ Acrylic on mount board

Some parts of Fethiye experienced temperatures of 6C last night and the wind is still blowing hard from the North.  There are many visitors still here and I don’t suppose that they are very impressed although the sun is shining as usual.  Snow is falling in the Black Sea regions so it could be worse.  I’ve completed my self-imposed target of a daily still life and have enjoyed it, but I’m enjoying work on a large canvas of Fethiye Bay even more.  So I’ve confirmed my conclusion of the 18th …. It’s the daily painting, not the painting a day that counts.

Tomb Bay

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Lycian Rock Tombs in Tomb Bay

Lycian Rock Tombs in Tomb Bay

Sailing in Tomb Bay Fethiye

Sailing in Tomb Bay Fethiye

Tomb Bay

 

Just 15 miles, not far from here

Across a space so crystal clear

A sea where the Meltimi blows

Sailing west, the compass shows.

Tomb Bay where the dust has blown

From people laid to rest in stone

Into the water deep and blue

The reflections that once were you

And on a rocky outcrop crown

Where white goats are staring down

Graves are hewn from ochre rock

Now empty caverns without locks

Among the Oleander there

When Sweetgum scents the evening air

I wander up the stony trail

To try to find a ghostly tale

And Tomb Bay was the place to go

When Ziggy died and we were low

Then reminders of the times we shared

Were all around, so much despair

Tomb Bay where the Lycians laid

Their dead to rest in ancient days

But now 3000 years have passed

Did they believe that they would last

Forever…..

Tony Taylor, July 2013

Sovalye Two

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Sovalye Island 2 10" x 8" Acrylic on card

Sovalye Island 2
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card

It’s been an eventful week, our 6 day sailing trip to Kas curtailed by the stomach bug that’s going around. So although we’ve been out of action I managed to paint this alternative Sovalye Island view eliminating the greens and yellows but still portraying an old house on an island, I like it but appreciation is scarce.

After many weeks work, I also managed to complete, pack and send, on it’s long journey to Australia, a large wedding portrait of my niece Caroline and Jon. As it’s a surprise I can’t publish until it arrives so more on that to come.

Şovalye Island

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Sovalye Island cottage 10" x 8" Acrylic on card

Sovalye Island cottage
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card

Just offshore lıes Şovalye Island. running North-South with Calis beach a stone’s throw from the Northern tip and the main Fethiye channel to the South.  Property prices on the island are astronomical by local standards, around a million pounds for a plot, but you do get relative privacy, a quiet enviroment and stunning views for your money. Personally I think a small island is great as a holiday hideaway but I couldn’t live on one.  I would go insane from the condition I call the  “Did you remember the milk, darling?” syndrome.

Cemetery Walk

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Cemetery Walk 10" x 8" Acrylic on card

Cemetery Walk
10″ x 8″ Acrylic on card

To get to the hills where we normally walk our dogs you can climb up through a small cemetery. It is a place of melancholy beauty, family groups sipping çay ın among the olive trees.  Wild flowers thrive among the monuments large and small framing the views above Calis and out across the Bay of Fethiye. This is my impression of the view inland as we head home on another scorching day here in Turkey.

Dog walking in the hills above Fethiye

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Looking West towards Ciftlik 10" x 8" Acrylic on Card

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!

Fethiye from across the bay

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Fethiye Bay 24" x 18" Acrylic on canvas

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!