Arty developments

My ideas have developed quite significantly since my last art scraps post...I have been researching Turkish tradition as I want it to feature in my work and I learnt about 'wish trees' a tradition that features in many cultures including Turkey, each with different specifics about how the tradition is carried out. In Turkey people tie a strip of fabric around a tree branch which signifies a hope or wish for the future, it is believed that the wish will come true if the fabric is tied. I wanted to incorporate this into one of my sculptures so began stringing twine in dense rows across my steel frame and tying strips of fabric to create a kind of weave that also harks back to the wish tree tradition. Initially I was using all different colours and fabrics as in Turkey it seems that nothing can be aesthetically too decorative, but then decided to refine the sculpture to being tones of blue, teal and purple which reflect the glittering colour of the Bosphorus. This sculpture will be part of a series of three using different manipulations of fabric on a steel frame.

When in Bulgaria I found a further representation of wish tree tradition. From March 1st Bulgarians often wear a red and white thread on their person called a Martenitsa, this represents the festival period of Baba Marta (Grandmother March) and is connected to the beginning of Spring season. When the wearer sees a budding blossom tree, a swallow, or a stork they tie the Martenitsa to the blossoming tree, this is supposed to bring health and luck for the forthcoming season.

A similar introduction to the beginning of Spring takes place in Istanbul on May 5th in the form of Hidrellez Festival, here this festival also celebrates the coming of a prophet who grants health and wishes, wish trees are used within the festival which I plan to attend in 3 days time...keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts on this...in the mean time have a read about it!

---> http://www.hidrellez.org/english.asp x

Bulgaria...land of the cheap everything and funny writing...

I am sorry for the neglect of the blog in recent weeks, we had an influx of visitors and uni has been getting pretty busy... However we did make time for a weekend holiday to not-so-sunny Bulgaria! We visited the very pretty town of Burgas on the Black Sea Coast, although the weather wasn't as hot as we'd have liked we had a great time and it was a welcome break from the constant hub of Istanbul.

We stayed at a really cute hostel randomly owned by one of Bulgaria's most famous rappers who ran a studio and hostel together, everything was amazingly super cheap from beer to clothes and we even swam in the Black Sea! We met up with Sara's friend Damien who is Bulgarian but also goes to Newcastle Uni and he was our tour guide for the weekend..we had a couple of nights out and loved the cheap cocktails...however no one told me a Bulgarian double is a British quadruple...there was messy times and a very hungover morning. On the Sunday one of Damien's friends (also bizarrely a rapper...never have I met so many MCs!) was filming a video for one of his tracks in a town close by on the coast so we got a lift there and explored the town which was full of beautiful old red brick orthodox churches and quaint antique shops while they filmed at a local hospital, Sara had a starring role as a nurse which was hilarious to watch....the first steps on the ladder of fame...to star in a Bulgarian rap video!

Other than that we shopped and dined for extra cheap and on Monday braved the cold cold waters of the black sea for a refreshing dip I wont forget in a while! It was great to have a break and explore somewhere new that none of us had ever been but by Monday night we were all ready to return to the buzz of Istanbul, Burgas felt like a village in comparison!