SEMEVAR CAFE
-Cafe & Nargile – Old buddies Osman & Alim in their cool cafe right in the walls on the highway – Mystery woman woodcut on a plaque near the door—–They were in the Army together, and the cafe was in the very city walls built by Constantine in the 4th century. I spent many happy times smoking nargile there as the light died down, in the exhausted afterglow of drawing all day.
SWEET RELIEF IN KUMKAPI
-As Rhonda & Jeannie realize they are free for new adventures. God I will miss them – 30 October—–Modern Sultan Hotel was a success, but took a lot out of everyone, thanks to a business partnership gone horribly wrong. Jeannie and Rhonda saved their investment by losing the awful partner, & working themselves to the bone. One glorious dividend was Jeannie’s daughter Leyla. Here we are celebrating the sale of Modern Sultan. Grief at their going collided with relief for them, and I just sat in the dark and drew it all.
LEYLA ASLEEP WITH CHARIOTS
-Leyla asleep 11-11 – Going to America in the morning – Drawing in the snow—— I’d started a drawing of the Obelisk pedestal, the side with the chariot races, run into problems, drawn the view from a cafe instead, and wound up that night over at Modern Sultan Hotel with Jeannie and Rhonda and sleeping Leyla. We sat up all night together in the room, because they were leaving in the morning, and we didn’t know when we’d ever be together again.
DRAWING THE CHARIOT PARADE
-Obelisk Pedestal – Chariot Parade AD 390 – Theodosius -Hippodrome – Freezing, but I’ve got to get it right & that makes it warm——Life goes on, and you just keep drawing.
MY LANDLORD & HIS WIFE
-Mehmet & Gül. She was the cleaner in the building when the Greek builders- and owners- left many years ago; her family acquired the building. She has 8 grown children. Of all the family I prefer her.
THE WAY THEY ARE NOW
A more relaxed take on my landlord and his wife. He still flirts with her, and no wonder. The kid in these photos is in his forties now, and has seven younger siblings. I asked Mehmet and Gül for photos and got these, of the young family going places.
FACES THAT MATTER
-Amir & Wife -Ali -Kevin -Barney -Jerome -Momo—–Without this bunch my life here would be grim indeed.