BACK TO KAPADOKYA
Invited by Laura, I was very happy to see this magical place again. The central steppes region of Turkey, thousands of years of contrasting history, Medieval art, the famous stone formations, and caves.
LIONS IN THE VALLEY
The air is full of blowing fluff & swallows in the morning light — Kapadokya — Nurettin & Laura with their view of the valley in Ortahisar——- This entire valley was a monastery and they have preserved it.
OSTRICH
Drawn at an ostrich farm near Laura’s. I had never been this close to an actual ostrich. They look exactly as Disney artists drew them in Fantasia. They’re wonderful.
THE PALACE FROM AFAR
Laura & Nurettin’s – From the top of Pigeon Valley — The Palace at Ortahisar—— Nurettin is the best cave restorer in Kapadokya, and he created this palace out of 52 caves on the mountain. Spectacular.
SKULL ROCKS IN KAPADOKYA
Squint — Keynose —- Squaretooth—— Nicknames for the stone faces I came to know from drawing them, in the valley at Ortahisar.
CAVE CHURCH DOOR
Ruined old cave church in Kapadkya — 6thCentury—— The center of Christian Monastic life in the Middle Ages, Kapadokya is full of these fabulous ruined chapels now in service as pigeon coops and shelters.
ZEKERIYA &THE APOSTLE
Zekeriya / Zacharia — A holy ghost of an apostle inside the cave church, Pigeon Valley, Ortahisar—— and the ghost of a Biblical name turned Turkish. I really liked his face.
HOLY GHOST
Blowing up a storm outside but in this space there is peace——
SON OF KARABAŞ
Roxy — Karabaş II—— Karabaş I disappeared a year before this drawing and was much mourned by Laura This lookalike was a great solace.
IN NURETTIN’S WORKSHOP
Tülay, Ceyhun Acar, Haci, Tayfun & Akie with Nurettin — In and out of a town blackout with Laura & Nurettin after a day to remember: Ballooning. Drawing a 1500-year-old church entrance, thermal baths after breakfast over the canyon, ostriches (!) And now çay with these craftsmen en famille——