Working in Istanbul

We are now in the flow of Istanbul.. and by in the flow I mean
watching it flow by us. From our balcony we've been taking in the
comings and goings of the Bosphorus, the clouds parting, and the
lights twinkling on. Plein-air painting in a city can be tough--
packing up your rig, hiking through the city, and often setting up in
a spot where others are seeking the view too. So we sometimes hole
up and work from the 'home studio'.

That said, we've been taking in the city. We went to the oldest
Hamam (bath) in the city, built 1584, to see the spectacle of the
Turkish Bath. We explored the Grand Bazar, as well as Arasta Bazar.
Judy and I have also had fun getting to know our neighborhood well.
It has a great feel-- full of artists and directors and such. Nice
little restaurants. Sometimes it is like a parallel 'cool' universe
to Silverlake or some other industry neighborhood. Except everyone
speaks Turkish (which, by the way, is really to tough to learn).

I've been working on a painting of the local fruit stand. After a
few days of working, I became sort of a fixture on the scene.. people
would stop to say hi, poke their heads out of a window offering tea,
roll me a cigarette.. pretty funny. or ask why their flower shop was
not in the painting... Once people here see you as a local (even if
it is for a week) they open up. We've also been working on a couple
paintings near the Blue Mosque. Again, a more touristy area, but
once the local cafe recognized us we were welcomed like locals
(permit me my delusions).

Mostly it is just painting, cooking, eating, watching. What the
doctor ordered.

Love from Istanbul
Kenny

(pics-- Painting at Blue Mosque, Local cafe "Cuppa", Judy painting
down the street from the flat, morning 'commute')

First entry from Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul 6 days ago after a week in London.

The London leg was full of art museums and jet lag. We stayed in central London, walking almost everywhere. We hit the major museums like the National and the British, the Waterhouse show at the Royal Academy, and the Tate Britain. Smaller collections stood out like the Wallace Collection and the Cortauld. And an amazing little museum of the Sir John Soane house was a stunner-- his residence, full of antiques and casts of roman and marble sculpture, an Egyptian sarcophagus, turner paintings, etc. We aslo checked out Elizabeth Peyton at Whitechapel and the BP portrait award a the Nat'l Portrait Gallery-- both shows seemed a bit flat... as in "how many ways can we paint a photo?"
And a side note: Artrace started airing in UK four weeks ago on SkyArts. An employee at the National Portrait Gallery actually recognized me from the show.. bizarre!

With art-saturation reached, we flew to Istanbul. They've had really wet weather with bad flooding in the past few weeks, so it was no surprise to see heavy skies and passing showers when arrived. We found our way to the flat by taxi and it didn't look like much from the outside. It is quite plain on the inside, but what it does have is the view of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn overlooking the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace... stunning. We just sit and look over the water to the old city, contemplate
paintings yet to come.

Judy and I have spent our days painting, exploring our neighborhood, and more painting. It has been perfect. We've even started a couple portraits of each other.
It has only been a week since we landed in Turkey and I feel like we're just settling in. We've been very slow on the tourist thing here.. we have time for that. So we take the city in small bites, and digest through observation in oil. We didn't bring phones and I'm happy for it.

More later on thoughts on Istanbul.. back to the easel...

Kenny

pics of the balcony and the Blue Mosque