Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Return to Turkey


This journal is a fictional story in words and ephemera 
of a young woman from London who returns to the 
birthplace of her ancestors for the first time.


 She is a tourist and yet, not a tourist. She sees the 
mannerisms and characteristics of her 
great grandfather, her aunt Sashsu 
and others, in the faces she meets on the streets.


 She visits the bazaar and finds a flair for haggling 
that she knows is in-born.


 The mosques, the tile work, the architecture
 speak to a place in her heart that
 has waited all these years to be fulfilled.


 This piece has been waiting for about two years,
 and finally came together last week when I
 had the time off to work on it.


I wrote out the journal entries and then translated them 
in Google Translator to Turkish.  I used a nib pen and sumi ink to
 then transcribe them on several of the journal pages.



The bought journal with its picture frame dividers 
and palm tree theme provided an excellent substrata.



I had amassed a goodly amount of ephemera and
 collage materials, including stamps, 
old coins and tickets that
 my friend Franny had collected for me 
on her trip to Istanbul in the fall of 2011.



As with so many of my pieces, there were months of
 sitting and marinating and then it all came 
together and was created in just a few days.

6 comments:

  1. VERY cool! I especially love the journaling ~

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  2. Bobbie - Thanks, I had a lot of fun doing it, it was lovely having the time to sit down and work on it for hours.
    Erin

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  3. Erin, this is such a great idea, and so well executed! Again, I am inspired by you. This is like reading a good book, but you've written it yourself, and you can dwell in another life for awhile. So glad you were able to take time for yourself like this, because we benefit too!

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  4. Chris - Thanks, I've always wanted to visit Istanbul, but it's not in the financial cards right now. This was a way to do it without the cost and - no security lines!
    Erin

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  5. I took a wee break from blog stalking and OMG! you have been busy! Wheeee!!!!

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  6. This is a masterpiece of creative imagination come to fruition. Great job!!

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