Arteest at work

We're back from our wonderful trip to the south of Turkey, and a full-blown photo-filled travelogue will follow shortly. First, though, I wanted to share my new hobby: miniature painting. Yep, I studied illustrated manuscripts for so long, now I figure I should take the trouble to learn how to make 'em myself. (Much better than bloviating about them along with other impotent leeches on the creative heritage of humanity – but enough about academia.) And as luck would have it, Istanbul happens to have a number of people still practicing traditional-style book arts (i.e. calligraphy, miniature painting, illumination, and bookbinding), and last weekend I signed up for lessons with a very nice guy in Taksim. Here's a picture of me at my first lesson:



And here's a close-up of (my receding hairline and) what I was doing: flower motifs!



And here's a little number I've been working on for a few hours now (click on the picture for a larger version):



OK, it's not mine, but you get the idea...