Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi (1609-1640), an inhabitant of Istanbul in the 17th century Ottoman Empire is credited with the first appropriate flight with artificial wings in the history of aviation. The event took place in the year 1638 during the tenure of Sultan Murad IV. Hezarfen took off from the 183-foot tall Galata Tower near Bosporus and landed successfully at Uskudar, on the other side. 

Evliya Celebi, historian and chronicler and an eyewitness, recorded vividly in his Seyahatname (a book of travel). Sultan Murad IV was inordinately pleased. Hezarfen was awarded a thousand gold pieces. However he was exiled to Algeria.

Istanbul has changed  a lot since his time…

The Wizard of Oz is one of the world classics by L. Frank Baum. After the cyclone Dorothy founds herself in a different lands and meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion and the other fantastic characters. The book I illustrated came up recently, published by Kelime Yayinlari.

When I was a child I used to watch the documentary about sea by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. This used to take me to a different world. I learned a lot things about sea species, fish, whales, octopuses, sharks… When I did this illustration for Merakli Minik, the science magazine for children, I remembered those days I wanted to be a diver.

A Turkish musicians international success is a big proud for a Turk who lives in a foreign country. This famous pianist was so sensitive that he had left the stage when he heard a cell phone ring during the concert in Istanbul. “Please sir, calm down”

I loved to see this concert definitely in the biggest concert hall in New York.

“Unfortunately all tickets are sold out.” Actually I couldn’t afford it but this city had full of surprise: “My wife couldn’t come. I can give  you her ticket”

And that’s the moment…

While he was playing the piano so beautifully in the excellent acoustic of the hall, a cell phone ring reached to me from one of the irresponsible audiences (can he/she be a Turkish?) . But he…

At the end of the concert, everyone applauded him for standing up as I did. But, I had a question in my mind: “I’m sure he didn’t hear the ringing. If he heard it he would leave the stage immediately, even if here is New York. But is it so important?”

“This too shall pass” (Persian:این نیز بگذرد, een niz bogzarad, Hebrew: גם זה יעבור, gam zeh yaavor, Turkish: Bu da geçer) is a proverb indicating that all material conditions, positive or negative, are temporary. The phrase seems to have originated in the writings of the medieval Persian Sufi poets, and is often attached to a fable of a great king who is humbled by the simple words. Some versions of the fable, beginning with that of Attar of Nishapur, add the detail that the phrase is inscribed on a ring, which therefore has the ability to make the happy man sad and the sad man happy.

I wrote this calligraphic proverb with water, the most temporary medium. It was not easy because of the summer heat was making water evaporate so quickly. After taking this photo it totally disappeared, like richness, poverty and time…

If I cry, would you hear me,
in my verses,
could you touch my tears,
with your hands?
I didn´t know that the songs are so beautiful,
the words are so insufficient
before I fell into this trouble.
There is a place, I know;
It is possible to say everything;
I am pretty close, I can hear;
I can´t tell.

Orhan Veli Kanık

Anlatamıyorum

Ağlasam sesimi duyar mısınız,
Mısralarımda;
Dokunabilir misiniz,
Gözyaşlarıma, ellerinizle?

Bilmezdim şarkıların bu kadar güzel,
Kelimelerinse kifayetsiz olduğunu
Bu derde düşmeden önce

Bir yer var; biliyorum;
Her şeyi söylemek mümkün;
Epeyce yaklaşmışım, duyuyorum;
Anlatamıyorum.

One of my latest books I illustrated came up recently, The Truth About Unicorns. It was published by Capstone.
Available via Amazon.