ISTANBUL
CENGIZ & BILLY
I couldn’t stand being out of Turkey anymore and fled to Istanbul for a pit stop before more knee surgery. I was afraid I’d never see it again. Here are two Sultanahmet cohorts on the day I arrived.
RAYAN IN NEW YORK
She was working for her father, a biotech with a big reputation, looking very different from the old backpack days in Istanbul. I must have stopped in New York on my way there.
NIZAM & HIS BOOK
Eden bulur — Nizam looking seedy— I had drawn Nizam so many times that I’d made a book of prints of the drawings, bound it in peacock velvet, and gave it to him when I landed in Istanbul. Eden bulur means The one who finds.
THE BEAUTIFUL WIFE
Zeynep here was married to the gent at center, still besotted with her after years of marriage and children. Everyone implored me to draw her.
SULTANAHMET ELDER
Doğan Ci — This personage was very popular with the Kybele Hotel. And fun to draw.
ENJOYER CAFE WITH CATS
The Enjoyer water pipe cafe is still there in Sultanahmet. I believe that the kitten in these pictures was the great-grandmother of my beloved Pinkie, February 2004-November 2021.
MIKE & HIS HATS
Taner — “Terizi kimşe” Sarkan — Mike in the Kybele Hotel lobby surrounded by his collections, among them, hats.
IFTAR AT KYBELE
Necla — Ayse — Emre — Kadir — The first drawing of Mike without his hat — Vefa —— It was Ramadan that December. It was winte and the days were short. Ramadan was festive and fun. Necla is Mike’s sister. Vefa is still the manager although the hotel sold long ago. And I ran into Kadir last week in Sultanahmet, running a very nice place down by Küçük Ayasofya.
BORED AT BACKGAMMON
Ignoble savage — “Thraisie you mus’ know A am not the same man as when A drink alcohol… is Ramadan.” Yok eden kimse -destroyer — Yikici zararli – destruction — Yoksul Muhtac- destitute — Nizam not drinking and grim as a result.
THE SISTER
Nizam’s 17-year-old sister who knelt & took off our shoes, kissed me & let me draw her…
WINTER IN SULTANAHMET
From Golden Horn Leather — Out the window on a winter day in Sultanahmet Ramazan 2001 —— Drawn while kneeling on the floor hunched at the window. As sloppy as this drawing is, everybody loved it, so I cleaned it up & included it in my first book, Drawing On Istanbul.