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Wanderlust Patterns: Alluring Istanbul Collection
Istanbul, Turkey is one of my most favorite cities in the world. The “East meets West” concept is so incredibly alluring. By just driving over the famed Bosphorus Bridge, one can be transported from the continent of Europe to the continent of Asia! This bridging concept runs much deeper than just the driving across a river, though. The East/West connection can be seen in the art, architecture, culture and warm hospitality of its inhabitants. I enjoyed creating these Istanbul illustrations and patterns and capturing this spectacular city. From the signature Turkish tile seen throughout the buildings and mosques to precious floral details, I’ve highlighting the vivid colors, motifs and architecture…
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Culture: Turkish Coffee in Istanbul
It’s no secret. I love coffee. It’s a daily ritual I can’t live without. At home, I tend to stick with my espresso in the morning and drip coffee in the afternoon, but while traveling, anything goes. I’ve enjoyed a steamy bowl of café au lait in Paris, and strong Italian pressed coffee in Venice. I’ve even tasted a good old fashioned percolated cup of Joe in a diner in Tennessee. So naturally, when we traveled to Istanbul, I was very excited to try my first Turkish coffee. Of course I knew the taste would be different (all use different types of coffee grounds) but I also found it interesting how different the tastes could be just based…
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Art on the Go: Sketching on a Foreign Newspaper
Whenever I travel, I love to buy a newspaper or two in the country I’m visiting. Although I’m not much of a linguist, I enjoy browsing through the articles, photos, ads and editorials to try to decipher what is being said. My other reason for picking up a local newspaper is for the paper itself. Foreign newsprint can make a great background to a travel sketch. It adds dimension and a hint of context to the location you are sketching. The process for sketching on newsprint is pretty much the same as sketching on paper. You can easily just tear out a part of the paper and start to sketch.…