SIMENA
-Simena -The Lycian trail: Two hours in the searing October sun while tours trekked by… the silent peace when they had passed was worth the pain of sunburn—–Thousand-year-old olive trees and cinnamon and saffron colored Lycian tombs from 500 BCE. Turquoise water shading to cobalt in the shadows of the rising hills.
TOMB &OLIVE TREE
-Simena – 1000-year old olive tree – 2500-year old tomb—–A closeup of the scene in the preceding drawing. Imagining these two old friends growing ever older together. The hole in the tomb is from looters, presumed to have been Fourth Crusaders.
PENNY & THE PERGE LIONS
-Grandfatherly lion in Perge
-9th Century Seljuk painting on the 2nd Century Roman theater in Aspendos
-Another Perge lion…a whole row of lions still growling – PENNY 2007—–My big sister Penelope is the best teacher I ever knew. She taught art for 45 years in the second-biggest barrio in the United States, continues to teach to this day, and manages to look decades younger than she is. Perge is one of the great cities of the plains in Southern Turkey. It’s probably older than Rome, but these lions are Roman.
HAPPY OVER THE VALLEY
-What a happy day! – A sunny morning – Moni & Phil, Omer & Penny at breakfast over the valley – 30 September 2007—–After a languorous journey along the coast of Antalya, we drove up into Cappadocia and fetched up at the Museum Hotel in Uçisar, where we met Moni and Phil from Malasia. He’s a British musician, at loose ends until he met Moni, who tied up the loose ends nicely. They are still together. We so enjoyed their company, and the view from Museum’s terrace, that we stayed there all day.
VALLEY FROM UÇISAR
-Drawing the sublime view from Museum Hotel with a horrible cold 4 October 2007—–The view from the terrace, with Omer’s fancy white pigeons in the foreground. Nice to think I got to trade a forgotten cold for this eternal drawing.
ÖMER TOSUN
-Ömer Tosun at his beautiful Museum Hotel in Uçisar—–In those days Ömer would stroll his fabulous terrace with a giant Kangal dog. He had built his hotel from a carpet business, with skill and luck. As the Soviet Union broke up, he told us, people sold immensely valuable carpets for very little. It’s an ill wind…