Patio days

Painting with oil colours at outdoors has highly advantages, like; natural light, getting fresh air, easy to clean around but all above it's much healthier! Guess what? Just started to paint at my outdoor patio... I will keep using my studio room for the other mediums such as acrylics, drawing, digital art computing etc...

"Cigdem" s portrait work in progress

Here is my latest setting, you can see that at the corner there are few plants also :))

By the lava sea

Lanzarote Island's surreal volcanic landscape inspired and urged me to create "By the lava sea" . One third of the painting is covered by the black weird rock block which is a lava rock by the way. The rock was half  inside the house and the big glass window starts from the edges of it to the top.

 

"By the lava sea" 

( view from the Cesar Manrique's former house "Taro de Tahiche")

Oil on canvas, 90 x 65 cm. 

I can actually show you with a picture so you can get better idea. It's another room in the house but facing to same direction almost. You see now the vast amount of lava, it's amazing!

 

Cesar Manrique's former house "Taro de Tahiche" . Today is his foundation and museum. For more info
http://www.cesarmanrique.com

From white to grey, red, green and the others

During July month I worked on the cactusueños paintings. Progress is advancing slowly… It is always pleasure to work with oil colours but they dry slowly but I don't wanna rush... I put the undertones of the paintings and did some sketches on the actual canvases. I will put more photos here soon …

On the other hand "the portrait of a young woman" is in this state. Still, many layers to add... The composition effectively satisfied me. The background is coming up well. New images will come soon, thanks for visiting my artlog.

Welcomeback to "CactuSueños"

In 2003, when I moved from New York to Gran Canaria I found the island has vast diversity of  vegetation, all kinds. Especially the cactus plant which always I admired its flower, the untouchable spine and its fruit "tuna"...  I visited in the island several botanical gardens, including the biggest cactus garden "Cactualdea" which is the biggest in all Europe and also the biggest botanical garden " Jardin del botanico" in Europe, as well. Learning the Canarian art history I wasn't suprized that this beautiful plant inspired many Canarian artists, like myself...

A good example, one of the great Gran Canarian painters called " Néstor Martín- Fernández de la Torre" (1887-1937)

Néstor Martín- Fernández de la Torre

Triptic Mural "El Mar"- lateral derecho- Casino Isla Tenerife

 The very first cactus painting was a group of cactus called the type of "cordon" in our garden. Several cactus paintings followed by with these style which looks like "abstract figurative".

Orange flowerd cactus

Oil on canvas, 60 x 100 cm., 2004 

The transition was inevitable, folowing few years the subject of cactus didn't changed but the paintings formed by with new colours, tecniques and additionally using my selfportraits. A very first painting with these style I think, it can be called as "figurative symbolism". The name of the series formed after this painting cause, I was portraying myself in each painting dreaming...

Cactusueños I

Oil on panel, 45 x 105 cm., 2007

(SOLD)

I am working on and off with Cactusueños close to 8 years now. You will be seeing soon my latest works... Keep it real, Cheers!

 To see more works visit at my web page

New Studio

These days I was busy working to set my new studio. There are three sections in the studio room; drawing, painting and digital work station. I have lots of light in the afternoons till late hours. Frech air comes through the balcony door  and I can see the park which is right across the street. The floor is covered with very nice ceramic tiles, it's easy to clean. I have a big closet to fill most of supplies and a shelf to put all the mediums and tools. Looking forward to create many artworks in this new studio...

   View from the new studio

Amicus res rara

“Amicus res rara” True friend is a rare thing

Oil painting and mixed media on canvas - 22 x 22 cm – 2011

If you have at least one good friend in this life you must consider yourself lucky. Latin proverb says “Amicus res rara” (true friend is a rare thing). What is really a true friend for you? Let’s define this person; maybe someone you can understand and express yourself or someone you can count on, someone gives you his/her friendship without any expectations… I love this song “Friends” by “Flight of the concords. Enjoy it! Have a wonderful week! Don't forget to keep in touch with your good friends...