Portrait Commission

Finally it's over. With some interruptions of illnesses and trips, it's done! I really enjoyed working on this painting. Thanks to Meric, my model. Very concentrated work with delightful conversations. I worked while we chatted. It's possible, believe me. It still needs a slight polishing up though.

Sonunda bitti. Gorunuste uzun surdu ama araya yolculuklar, hastaliklar girince bu tarihe gelindi mecburen. Zevkle çalıştım. Ayrıca yeni bir arkadaş da kazandım. Seanslar boyunca Meriç'le çok güzel sohbetler ettik. Hem çalışmak, hem konuşmak oluyormuş anlaşılan. Hala son fırçayı vurmuş değilim gerçi.

Ada and the Plans

The little lady, Ada, is born on july 26th, a month earlier than expected.

A new me, a new life. I am planning to have a blog about her at http://kucukada.blogspot.com. It will be in Turkish but you may find some photos of her there. Have a look at it in a month or so.

Being away from the paints and brushes, away from the smell of the oil and the spirits was really hard. I miss all a lot. That doesn't mean I cannot wait and I am back. But I sense that time is coming. The little lady who had all the priviledges considering the time, looks likely to lend mom some of the time spared for her soon. I believe she will. She is a well-behaved baby, lucky me.

Actually last month I had a chance to start doing things other than child-care. I had a concert with my countertenor friend Rudi (his site is www.rudiromeri.com) a couple of weeks ago and recently I've been working on a commissioned painting. A friend of mine thought that a portrait of his wife could make a good gift for her birthday. So I am on duty again -not everyday though, but each saturday for now.

So...the palette is covered by wet colors again. Looking forward to the days of daily painting. Will be very glad to welcome you here again once I start.

Kucuk bebek dogdu. Adı Ada oldu.

26 Temmuz 2007'de hayatim degisti. Baska bir hayat, baska bir Yapincak. Hayatimi aydinlatan Ada kizimla ilgili haberleri yakinda http://kucukada.blogspot.com/ adresinde bulabilirsiniz.

Uzun suredir sizlerden de, boyalarimdan da, bilgisayardan da ayri kaldim. O kadar ozlemisim ki... Su an 'her gun bir resim'e donuyorum desem yalan olur. Ama inanin yeni hayatin getirdigi yeni renkler parmaklarimin ucunu kasindiriyor. Tek sorun, tahmin edersiniz ki vakit. Ama zamanin gelmeye basladigini hissediyorum. Kucuk Ada uyumlu ve uslu bir cocuk ve galiba annesine, kendine hediye edilen saatlerin bir kismini odunc verecek.

Birazini verdi bile. Mesela kontrtenor arkadasim Rudi (www.rudiromeri.com) ile bir san-piyano konseri gerceklestirdik. Sonra...siparis bir portre uzerine calisiyorum. Eski arkadasim Hakan'in sevgili esi Meric'in portresini yapiyorum. Hakan'in hayat arkadasina dogumgunu hediyesi.

Yani boyalar kutudan cikti. Her gun olmasa da, her cumartesi is basindayim. Ve bekleyin yakinda yine burdayim.

Reclining Figure

"Man in Yellow Jacket"

Back to my favorite subject: people. Still-lives, landscapes, cityscapes, all are fun. But figure paintings or portraits have always been my biggest interest. Either when enjoying other artists' paintings or painting figures myself... There is no clue about surrounding interior here. I'll tell you, this is a scene from Sirkeci ferry which connects Uskudar (in Asia part of Istanbul) to the Historical Peninsula (Europe side). Fethi and I sometimes just take this boat and go have a dinner in one of the nice little restaurants there, feeling like tourists in the city where we live. This is a quick oil painting done inspired by a photo taken in that boat. After doing this painting, I decided to do a portrait of Fethi-if I can ever make him pose for me, this time spending enough time for details and taking the resemblance issue serious!

Tekrar en sevdigim konu: Insan! Bir suredir ardarda sehir manzarasi ve naturmort yaptim izlediyseniz. Zevkli calismalar ama iste figur baska. Baska sanatcilarin eserlerine bakarken de en cok ilgimi ceken bu tur zaten... Bu resimde mekanla ilgili bir kopya yok. Soyleyeyim, resim Sirkeci vapurunda cekilmis komik bir fotograftan ilhamla ortaya cikti. Fethi'yle bazen cikip Sultanahmet'e gidiyoruz, orada turist gibi dolasip, minik restoranlarda yemek yiyoruz. Iste bu da oyle bir gece oncesi yapilan kisa deniz yolculugundan. Resmi bitirdikten sonra benzetme konusunu daha ciddiye alarak (!) Fethi'nin bir de portresini yapmaya karar verdim-tabii bana poz verirse ancak; cunku kolay is degil, sabir isi.

"Waiting for the Minibus"

SOLD

Another Istanbul street scene in another beautiful winter day (Have a look at the similar scene I painted-if you haven't before: "The Tram"). Crowded Baghdad Street, people going shopping, people with babies, people just wandering around enjoying the sun. When you want to go back home though, it's hard to find a spare seat in a minibus.

Bir Istanbul sehir manzarasi daha, yine guzel bir gun, bu sefer "Tramvay" yerine, basrolde minibus. Kalabalik Bagdat caddesi; alisveris yapanlar, bebekli anne-babalar, guzel havanin tadini cikaran haftasonu keyifcileri. Ama eve donmeye gelince vakit, minibuste yer bulmak zor iste, bekle de bekle...

"Three Buddies"

$100

Oil on canvas/ 18x24cm (7"x9.4")

If you'd like to purchase this painting, please send a mail to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com

"Bunch of Bananas"

$100

Oil on canvas/ 18x24cm (7"x9.4")

If you'd like to purchase this painting, please send a mail to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com

My Wonderful Excuse

I cheated, I admit. Lately I couldn't paint daily as I promised -and actually did- before. Well, I have an excuse. A big one :) Better to tell it quick: I am expecting a baby! Moms know, in the beginning, you really feel tired, powerless. I fighted, but no, the bed won, I slept so many hours and skipped days without painting. Later energy kind of came back but then I got worried about the smell, the smell of paints and turps. Asked my doctor, told me to work with a medical mask. Believe me not easy, so I skipped some more days. It's sad to realize the decrease in the number of visitors when I don't paint daily. The truth is painting is the biggest joy of my life nowadays and I really want to keep it up. So I think I'm getting back to my old routine, so please join me in this journey again. I am hoping to welcome you everyday with a new painting here. Thanks for visiting!

Sozumde durmadim, her gun bir resim dedim, son gunlerde atladim. Ama buyuk bir mazeretim var: Hamileyim! Mujdeyi veremedim bunca zamandir, kolay degil, heyecanlaniyorum :) Anneler bilir, baslangicta buyuk yorgunluk oluyor; ne kadar savassam da uykuya yenildim, resimsiz gunler gecti. Sonra enerji biraz geri dondu, bu sefer kokulardan korktum, yagliboya kokusundan, tinerden. Doktoruma sordum, maskeyle calis dedi. Nasil zor anlatamam, bir kac gun de boyle gecti. O arada ziyaretci sayimin azaldigini gormek uzdu tabii, her gun resim yapmayinca, her gun ziyaretci gelmiyormus. Resim yaptikca mutluyum, devam edebilmek en buyuk arzum. Simdi biraz rutine girdim sanki. Bundan boyle yine sizi her gun yeni bir resimle karsilamak istiyorum. Ugradiginiz icin cok tesekkurler! (Kucuk bebek henuz bir limon kadarmis bu arada :)

"Lemon"

SOLD

"Flowers in a Saucer"

SOLD

"Shadow Flower"

$100

Oil on canvas/ 18x24cm (7"x9.4")

If you'd like to purchase this painting, please send a mail to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com

"Composition with Carnations"

$100

Oil on canvas/ 18x24cm (7"x9.4")

If you'd like to purchase this painting, please send a mail to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com

Quick study with carnations again.

Karanfillerle hizli bir calisma.

Paintings Avaliable for Purchase

Please visit my eBay store to see some of my recent paintings. Unsold paintings in this blog are also available for $100 each. Just send an email with the name of the painting and I will get back to you with the details. You may also send your questions about me, my paintings or purchasing and handling info to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com. Each will be answered personally by myself. Thanks for visiting again and I hope you enjoy browsing.

Biraz satis bilgisi... Yeni resimlerim eBay dukkanimda. Satin almak istediginiz baska resimler olursa yapincakokyar@yahoo.com adresine yazabilirsiniz. Fiyatlari 100$. Benimle ve resimlerimle ilgili veya satisla ilgili aklinizdaki tum sorulari da lutfen yine bu adrese yonlendirin. Ziyaretleriniz ve desteginiz icin tekrar cok cok tesekkurler.

"Flowers in the Red Vase"

SOLD

Continuing with the flowers. I don't remember when I did my last flower painting, so many years ago-then yesterday, now today. I must say I really enjoyed that. It's been weeks that I haven't been to my studio. Instead, I try to paint at home. Oh, in a ridiculous condition. And here at home, "what to paint?" question leaves me almost without any answer. I must consider myself maybe lucky considering that I have a husband who loves-well at least that's the impression I got- bringing me flowers. So thanks to him and to the carnations for giving me the inspiration.

Yine cicek. En son ne zaman bu konuyu calistigimi hatirlamiyorum bile, yillar sonra dun ve bugun... Zevk aldim aslinda. Haftalardir atolyeme gidemiyorum, evde ise komik pozisyonlarda calisiyorum. Evde malzeme coktur, konuda sikinti cekmem derken, gunlerdir konu bulmakta neler cektigimi anlatamam! Neyse ki cicekleri seven bir es ve guzel cicekler imdadima yetisti.

White Carnations

$100

Oil on canvas/ 18x24cm (7"x9.4")

If you'd like to purchase this painting, please send a mail to yapincakokyar@yahoo.com

"Orange Juice"

SOLD

"Tabletalk"

SOLD

Sorry for the 4-day break in my routine. Sometimes you just cannot fix things quickly. But I am back. Maiden's Tower again. This time the interior. A cup coffee in a winter morning, nice view, nice chat.

Bir sure -mecburi- rutinden ayrildim. Umarim her sey yolunda gider de, hergun1resim'e hakettigi sekilde devam ederim yine. Bir kez daha Kiz Kulesi. Bu sefer ici. Bir kis sabahinda sicak bir kahve, sicak bir sohbet.

"Maiden's Tower"

SOLD

When I am practising the piano, I see the Maiden's Tower reflecting on the shiny surface of my piano. Wonderful to enjoy that view. I never thought painting it though. Don't know why. Maybe because I was not fond of landscapes or cityscapes as much as the figure paintings-before. Or maybe it felt kinda too touristic as a subject matter.

We were there -for the first time- yesterday. It took only took five min.s maybe less by boat. We went up to see the Bosphorus panorama first, beautiful. Then we had a great lunch at the first floor restaurant. I really enjoyed the interior. It had sharp lights coming in from tiny windows and creating dramatic Rembrandt effects inside. It was a lovely day, romantic, too. Then...today I found myself doing the last thing I could expect, painting the Maiden's Tower.

Piyano calisirken piyanoma yansiyan manzara Kiz Kulesi. Seyrine doyulmaz bir manzara, piyanoyla gecirilen daha uzun saatler. Ama hic bir zaman resmini yapmayi dusunmedigim bir konu ayni zamanda. Belki manzara resmine cok da merakli olmadigim icin-onceden; ya da belki konu olarak cok turistik geldigi icin bana. Bilinmez.

Haftasonu gittik Kiz Kulesi'ne, ilk kez! Tekneyle kisa bir yolculuk, girer girmez ust kat, harika bir manzara. Sonra asagida harika bir yemek. Kucuk pencerelerden gelen isik, icerde oyle dramatik efektler yaratiyordu ki, bayildim. Cok guzel bir gundu, romantika. Ve sonra, iste bugun, Kiz Kulesi'ni yaparken buldum kendimi.