Art beyond the distance

Before beginning with the interview, me and my grandma talk for a while. We talk about our days and what we plan to do with the rest of it. My grandma has been an artist for a very long time, she loves art and she is very good at it. She taught me everything I know about drawing and painting and she is the reason I love it so much. My grandma lives in Turkey so we talk through the phone, she is sitting in her little desk in front of a window, she shows me the view. It’s a sunny day there but here in Brussels I am wearing at least three layers of clothing. Her laptop is open, she was looking at some old videos and pictures. She is very happy that I called her and very excited for this interview (translated from Turkish).

Like I told you a week ago, I’m going to ask questions about art.

Okay, I’m ready.

When did you start drawing?

In the first year of middle school.

Where did you study art?

When I was in middle school we had a room where we would draw for 2 hours. We had aprons and canvases and we would study art in there.

What inspires you when you draw or paint?

The moment I have some feelings I do a drawing, if I am not feeling anything I cant draw. So to do something I have to feel something.

What kind of ambiance helps you concentrate?

To concentrate I have to be alone. It just has to be me and the picture I want to paint. To be able to draw I have to examine the drawing for day maybe months sometimes, sometimes for month I read books about the drawing for example when I painted Mevlana. First I listened to their music then I read their books then I read their words and then I started painting. In some drawings It’s like this. You make researches you get in the thing and then you start to draw like you’re in there.

In how much time did you paint Mevlana?

I finished Mevlana in 7 months. It took a long time.

Does painting help you when you are feeling any kind of strong emotions?

When I’m mad the drawings that come out are very different and when I’m sad the drawings that come out are very different than the ones I do usually.

What is you’re favorite king of art?

Modern drawing

Really?

I love it. Yes, really. But I don’t do many modern drawings, for some reason I always go towards classic but my true love is modern drawings.

Do you have a painting you are specifically attached to?

Specifically? There is. There is my painting but that one was sold. The one I call my life. The one with the lake and the water lily’s in the middle and different things going on around them.

Oh right! You sold that one.

I did. I painted my whole life on the painting.

Now that you moved to Istanbul you don’t have an art studio, do you miss drawing?

I miss it a lot. Sometimes I want to take my brushes and just paint. I want to play with the paint and the brush. I miss it a lot.

Okay well thank you so much.

You’re welcome sweetie.

Dilara de Bonis / S4IT / EEB1 Uccle