The second week in the studio went fast with lots of progress.
Dolphin’s head finished with the contour line. This is one line around the figure in background color. It helps to emphasize the figure. This technique can be found in greek and roman mosaics.
When looking at the dolphins head I am so amused that it looks so Disney like! Did Disney maybe had a look at these mosaics before he created his figures?
I started with the last figure – a long, mainly gray fish with vigilant eyes. Nusret Bey taught me to make the eyes first, to give the figures a soul at the beginning.
And I glued the Dolphin and parts of his tail fin onto MDF board. In the picture you can see it with weights from boxes full of marble. On Monday it should be ready for the background tesserae to be put on.
It has been very cold in Turkey and in Ayvalik too the past week so building work had to rest for a while.
This lets me think of the situation of Syrian refugees of which the majority lives in Turkey. Ayvalik and its surroundings play a role in the faith of refugees. From there a lot of men, women and children leave in small boats or dinghies for the greek island of Lesbos which is only 2h boat ride away over the sea. The photo I posted already last week is the view from Ayvalik’s waterfront over to Lesbos.
The mountain range in the far background are the mountains of Lesbos
When the sea is calm like this the boats might succeed. But imagine in storm or at the freezing temperatures of the past week ….
A dinghy with refugees and migrants onboard is illuminated by a rainbow as it makes its way on the Aegean sea from the Turkey’s coast to the Greek island of Lesbos, on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. About 5,000 migrants are reaching Europe each day along the so-called Balkan migrant route, stoking tensions among the countries along the migrant corridor including Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.(AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
When we visited Ayvalik, in the 4 days we spent in the small town, public life of Ayvalik would not hint anything about refugees in the city and their dramatic situations.
Only in speaking to some shopkeepers we heard empathetic remarks about the misery of the whole situation of the refugees.
Meanwhile the Turkish government has issued a general work permit for Syrian refugees and the permission for employers to employ up to ten Syrian immigrants in their businesses.
We will see if this regulation might reduce the numbers of people risking their lives for a better future on a boat ride between Ayvalik area and Lesbos.
