Tag Archives: water

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.

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

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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!

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!

Lakeside memories

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Lakeside track 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

Lakeside track
9″ x 6″ Acrylic on mount board

I was searching my memory for a subject to continue my exploration of this style of painting and I thought of one of my favourite trout fishing spots in Gwynedd.  I have so many vivid memories of coming around this corner to see fish rising off the point before me. Happy days!

Nar

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Nar 9" x 6" Acrylic on mount board

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This region is blessed with a Mediterranean climate and abundant water and could be described as a huge market garden.  Everywhere you look the trees are laden with fruit, the greenhouses are full to bursting and the market stalls are creaking under the strain.  I must confess I can live without figs and melons but I do get especially excited by the prospect of pomegranate juice and the arrival of fresh walnuts.  Talking of melons, last year I was given a pomegranite the size of a honeydew melon!

Spontaneous Combustion

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After the Fall 9" x 7" Acrylic on card

After the Fall
9″ x 7″ Acrylic on mount board

The mountains that surround us here in Fethiye are covered in pine forests and Spontaneous Combustion is a good description of the speed in which fires develop in this tinder dry environment.  Unfortunately there is nothing mystical about them and they are mostly caused by carelessness with cigarettes.  However,  barbecue fires,  Chinese lanterns and fireworks contribute and an article in our local news reporting the temporary banning of these activities  was in mind as I watched our local firefighting helicopter dumping huge buckets of water on the latest outbreak.  They begin with a wisp of smoke but just seconds later flames shoot up and trees almost explode in the heat.  Our daily breezes are onshore and away from the town but I’d hate to see one of  these fires develop with an offshore breeze.  Our fire fighting service are doing a fantastic job and I dedicate this painting to them.

 

 

Cadianda

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Cadianda 12" x 9" Acrylic on card

Cadianda
12″ x 9″ Acrylic on mount board

Cadianda, an early Byzantine settlement, located 25 kilometres from Fethiye on a hilltop outside Uzumlu,  has suffered in numerous ways through the centuries but there is still plenty to see. Nowadays, the ruins lie hidden among the trees, but this was once a sizeable city complete with an ampitheatre, an agora, a necropolis, many tombs in a variety of styles, a Hellenistic theatre and a stadium and racetrack. Most of the ruins are from the Roman period although the earlier name suggests the original settlement, Kadawanti, dates to 3000 B.C.  I prefer to wander the circular path clockwise when the site unfolds with a succession of surprises and spectacular views of Fethiye during the climb to the top. There is an element of danger here as the summit area is pocketed with the remains of 4 interconnecting deep cisterns into which the careless could fall. Water shortages and earthquakes were a problem up here and Cadianda was ultimately abandoned by the 7th Century.

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

Çalis canal

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Venice Canal 10" x 8" Acrylic on card

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Some time last year a local official, commenting on the dredging and bank work being carried out at the time in Çalıs, said “Soon this will be the New Venice!”   I suspect he’d never been, maybe he’d heard that people visited Venice for the canals and thought we’ve got one of those here, maybe not. Well, the thick groves of rushes and bamboo have regrown along the canal banks, the frogs and fish, the egrets and kingfishers have returned, and while not exactly Venice it does have a charm of it’s own.  I recalled his comment and raked out an old photo of the real thing for some indoor inspiration in the heat of midsummer.