TO THE CITADEL ABOVE ST JOHN’S
Selcuk After a frenetic summer, spent an incandescent week alone at a friend’s place in Selçuk. No computer, no TV. I drew all day and read books at night.
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VIEW FROM THE CITADEL
SILENT CHAPEL
— 5thCentury chapel in the Citadel at St John’s, converted to a bath by Ottomans — About 12 hours in the blessed silence, feeling it all — —September 2022 —— This was the first thing I drew. It was really hard, took three sessions, and was worth every stroke. People came and went, and I just kept drawing. I don’t know if St John was here, but something was, and I got to immerse myself in it.
ISA BEY HAMAM
Appearing ike a hallucination in a palm grove next to the street, on my way to the Temple of Artemis in Selçuk. Everyone in the neighborhood was very friendly. They are proud of this antique bath, built by Selçuk architects in 1370, at the same time as Isa Bey Mosque up the road. The businesses along the street facing the Hamam keep it standing. I drew it through a chain- link fence, and want to draw from photos of the inside this winter. It was only a bath for a few decades. After that it was used as a cemetery, but I saw no headstones. For some reason it reminds me of beehives so I call it the Beehive Hamam. It took three sessions of 2-4 hours to draw.
THE BEEHIVE HAMAM
— ISA BEY HAMAM 1370 – “Beehive Hamam” – Selçuk ——
Here’s a closeup for those of you on phones.
ARCHANGEL AT THE DOOR
…At the entrance to the Ephesus Museum at Selçuk. I have seen many depictions of archangels but never one with a penis- or the remains of one. I don’t know if it’s a copy or original, but I’m glad it’s there. Drawn on site.
TWO FACES OF A HERM
—Ephesus Museum’s wonderful Herm: twins who went different ways in life —— I was given a stool and since this Herm is in the lobby, with good light, I could get right in his face and draw it. Wonderful experience! One of these stood at the entrance of every Greek, and later Roman, house.
MUSEUM BITS
—Leg of Hercules? — Some Roman potentate in bronze — Commodus — Drawn mostly at the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk.
THE HARBINGER TOMB
—Harbingers of angels in stately procession across an unfinished 3000-year-old tomb. The top and bottom don’t match – Top workmanship, of a reclining couple, is crude and anatomically wrong, but the bottom, in better marble, is exquisite——
Ephesus Museum, Selçuk—— What’s unfinished is the feathering on the wings of musicians to the right.
COMMODUS & THE BEASTS
—Selçuk: Ephesus Muze — Psychopathic Emperor Commodus (177-192) of Gladiator fame- No neck this puny ever slung a spear. — Twi decorative bulls- one desiccated into its true nature—— as a clue to Commodus, who looks about as threatening as Jeffrey Dahmer.
ARTEMIS & A CAT
Artemis drawn in the dark, but I can see she’s got a cat at her ear… of course!
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
— The Temple of Artemis, fell by earthquake, was pilled to build St John’s Basilica in the 6thCentury. That too fell in a quake, and was pillaged to build Isa Bey Mosque in 1370. All threee appear in one glance here at sunset in Selçuk. — Why did the most powerful goddess of Asia Minor allow her temple to be burned? An ancient carved capitol bashed into a face… The Temple was burned in 356 BCE by a man who wanted fame. It was restored by Alexander the great, born that night, who believed the goddess was distracted by his birth—— After an incandescent week in Selçuk, I returned to Istanbul in time to put up this book, sort my Permanent Residence, and get ready to go to the US for six weeks to visit family and friends, first time since 2015. This book isn’t finished; I’m taking it with me. But I wanted to put up the most recent work for you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. More to come.
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