AFFORDABLE GIFTS OF ART.

Each year, our Calaveras County Arts Council hosts an affordable art show just in time for Christmas. Amador and Tuolumne Counties have similar open house events. Affordable is different for different folks. Patty Rayne does huge paintings of horses like this one in the $750 category. Her love for horses shows in her work.
On a different budget, maybe for a child's choice, are small mini paintings that are nice for a side table.
I usually buy something at this event, but I have no room on my walls and I'm downsizing. I had a hard time passing up this rooster. I've had chickens in every house I've ever lived in and this one reminded me of a rooster we used to have that the kids named Fat King Crow.
I enjoy getting my art "fix" even if I don't buy anything. I admired Sonya Zeigler's landscapes and so many others. But what is really incredible about artists in our own backyard is the amazing diversity of talent.
Layered ceramics.
Etched ceramics.
Pots of every kind and shape.
Beautiful wooden bowls, platters and honey servers.
The things artists do with gourds... an art form that has become very popular in our neck of the woods.
Unique one-of-a-kind pieces like this carved skull.
Something new to me is photography on canvas from Gordy Long. I swear, Jim and I have been on this very beach in Washington State. I'm curious about how it is done? At $18 very affordable.
The gallery has jewelry makers, paintings, and cards for all occasions year around. But at this event, you can find a Christmas card for a favorite friend that is a gift in itself.
One table was given over to the feast of finger foods with cider and wine available to drink. Festive and fun because I always manage to see a friend, either in person, or on a canvas.
Enjoying the Christmas season is opening up to joy at every turn and I love it.  Merry Christmas.

STREET SCENES, FOOD THE GRAND BAZAAR.

As I continue posting our trip to Turkey, the major attractions are a wonder to behold, but the street scenes and our surroundings also draw the eye, like this brass shoe shine stand in the hotel lobby. I was approached by a gypsy on the street with this very same piece of equipment. And I really needed my shoes polished, but we were on the move and we couldn’t stop on a street corner for me to have my shoes refreshed.

During our bus ride to the Turkish bath, Usla pointed out the recycler following the garbage truck. Joan Zucker pointed out that the garbage trucks play classical music while picking up garbage. Isn’t that a hoot?
A fancy birdcage greets us every morning in the hotel on our way to breakfast. The food changes somewhat every day, but the food buffets at our hotels, knock your socks off.

You can see fruit, yoghurt, honey, baklava, sausage, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, black and yellow apricots, raisins and at the back, strawberries, cereal.

Here we have olives, carab pods, garbanzo beans, nuts and marinated cheeses with herbs, rice and cereals. At the back is syrups and seasonings of all sorts and milk.

The cheeses are many and varied. You can see dried figs, beets, turkish delight, cashews, pomegranates, and parsley.

The juice bar.



The hot dishes, savory filled roles, egg dishes, stews and meats with rice and breads.

Of course there was turkish coffee, tea and water. We sat at tables that looked out through open windows on the beautiful Marmara Sea. This day was overcast, but other days were sunny. And one of those days a big gull came in and began eating off the plate of someone who left the table to get something else. And, as unbelievable as it sound, all breakfasts were like this one or better at our hotels.

And if you need a snack while you are out, you can always pick up a boiled egg from the lobby. This basket of eggs was about two and a half feet long. We don’t know if they were part of the wedding or what?

Yesterday, I posted Topkapi Museum? Immense color portraits of these interesting sultans in colorful garb don’t compare to these small black and white drawings in the lobby. It is the same inspiration we might find in our hotels or public buildings, a reminder of our great leaders with pictures of  Washington or Lincoln.

They kind of remind me of youthful meanderings after reading Arabian Nights, the romantic Calef riding across the desert with a sword by his side and rescuing the equally exotic princess.

They are just ordinary to the locals. Ahh, I know exotica and relish it when I see it.

But I dally. On to the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest covered outdoor markets in the world. It has 3,600 shops and 58 streets. They have categories, gold, silver jewelry, leather shops and so on. Here you can find anything you want.

Things made with Crystals.

Ceramics of great beauty.

You can find quality and glitz.

Or a tailor to hand make your clothing. Obviously this short man cannot buy clothing to fit off the rack.

And food in bulk, just like in the spice market.

When you buy these stuffed black and yellow cots, or hazlenut chocolate delights, they are packed in fancy boxes and make great gifts.

The main street is a wide avenue.

Owen and I wandered some of the smaller side streets and it is important to know your direction to get back to your original entrance. Owen bought a souvenir dagger, similar in size as the Topkapi dagger.  And, luckily he has a good sense of direction or I probably would still be wandering the bazaar.


I looked at textiles because cloth items are easier to carry in a suitcase. I wanted something with the famous tulips on them.

There were many choices.
I like scarves and the market had many scarf booths. I ended up here and bought three scarves for $400 after a lot of dickering. The merchant wanted his picture taken with us and gave us his card. I left there thinking to myself, did I really pay $400 for three scarves?
They are pretty persuasive salesmen. And the scarves are cashmere and silk. This one from the Mevlana area.

This one is Kurdish with two Moslem letters or words from the Ottoman Empire and sewn with some gold threads.

Cappadocia with a beautiful leaf repetitive pattern. They are of excellent quality and feel like velvet. Long enough to stretch from one side to the other of my queen sized bed.
I hope you are appreciating that so far, all my Turkey blogs, are excursions we made on our first day in the country. You can double-click on any of these pictures to enlarge them and arrow back to return to the blog. I hope you are enjoying taking this trip with Owen and me. And, I cannot find a spelling or definition for the word Calef that I believe is a word for a leader similar to a general or minor Sultan. If anyone can help me, please do. More tomorrow.

BEIJING OPERA AND THE TERRACOTTA ARMY OF XIAN.

Before leaving Beijing, we attended the traditional Opera that is no longer performed anywhere in China but Beijing. It is considered old-fashioned, an old art. There were no pictures allowed of the opera, nor the beautiful costumes on display in the lobby.  Cast members  entertained us at our tables while we enjoyed refreshments. A teapot with a three-foot long spout was used to dramatically pour our tea into tiny cups without splashing or spilling a drop, much to our delight. On stage,  one very acrobatic act performed in slow motion, with every muscle in coordination, had us holding our breath. The performers painted faces were allowed to show no emotions;  their lips could not move, not even to take a breath. You could see their nostrils flare as they took in air during extremely strenuous moves. It put us on the edge of our seats.  The opera is part singing, part acrobatics and part storytelling. One story (all printed in English on screens at the side of the stage) involved a hateful government edict presented to the people. They conspire to steal the key and change the offensive edict. This is important because in old China, it was the only form of protest the people had, through their art. One act was a about a Shogan who falls in love with his concubine. Another "social issue."  It was wonderful. Viki told us most people skip the Opera, but, I would certainly recommend it if you have a chance to see it.

The next morning, we flew to Xian, pronounced shy-ann. Realize that the soldiers were discovered in 1974 and they have been designated the 8th wonder of the world. Xian was once the capital of China during the first of thirteen dynasties, the Ching Dynasty. Here, underground, lay the roots of the dynasty, for over 2000 years. The photo of a  photo taken by  the archaeologists shows what the soldiers looked like as they began to uncover this phenomenal treasure.

The soldiers are displayed  in the pits from which they came and covered over by a roof. This photo shows the immensity of this pit. They carried weapons because  the soldiers were ready to do battle for their emperor when he died.   The soldiers were destroyed by the incoming faction of government after the Emperor who ordered the armies built,  died,  while inspecting the army.  The soldiers weapons were removed, then the figures were broken up and covered over.

This photo shows the depth of  one of the pits.  There is six  pits open to the public if I remember correctly. There is 8,000 soldiers, over three hundred chariots, wagons, and horses, jade armor, animals, dancer,  acrobats plus other people, statesmen or persons important to the Emperor.

A flash only carries so far and it is difficult to get  really good pictures of the soldiers. But the immensity of the task and the visible definition of the clothing, the hands, the features overwhelms. I find myself continually amazed at the wonders people crafted when given inspiration, and that I should have the privilege of seeing them.

The soldiers, when first removed had color in their faces and clothing. The Chinese government is building a new museum for the soldiers because they've lost their color from exposure to light and air. The roof leaks in places and since the discovery, they've found 73 more mounds, 16 of which they've opened up and reburied until they have perfected a technology to preserve the color and prevent deterioration of the figures. The rest will not be opened until they have the financial reserves and technology to care for this enormous treasure. The Terracotta Army is also a UNESCO site. UNESCO means this is a world treasure, to be preserved for all mankind and funded and preserved by shared funds. That designation carries a lot of responsibility and cooperation between countries around the world and benefits all of us.

Some of the best views of the warriors are replicas from the museum store.

You can buy one of these and have it shipped back to the United States. The replicas are a treasure as well as the man who discovered the  soldiers and had to turn his farm over to the government. He was given the official job as book signer. He is a small man, very quiet, doesn't say much.  He is no longer allowed to have his picture taken because his eyes were damaged by so many flashes. A cute story about him:  He was told President Clinton would be visiting and he was taught a bit of English to greet the President. He learned to say "How are you?" He was coached that the Clintons would likely say, fine, thank you and he should answer, I'm fine too. But, Clinton said "Hello".  And the farmer, who was nervous said, "Who are you?" And Clinton said, "I'm Hillary Clinton's husband." And the farmer said "Me too!"

The Provincial Shaanxi History Museum, adjacent to the pits,  holds this team of horses. All under glass, tough to get a decent photo of them.

And this chariot driver.  The detail in the clothing, the hands, the faces...truly awesome. All of these figures were modeled after real people. They were fired in kilns and then painted.

The horse to me has a wary expression as though aware of a stranger's approach.

I was surprised at how little from the pits was  in the museum. Hopefully that will change as they rebuild and restore.

One of the best things about the museum was their noodle lunch. A guy on each end of a long counter holds a hunk of noodle dough like this. This cook was quickly shaving off a piece of dough into hot broth that made wide noodles. Xian is a hard wheat growing region. It used to be that for birthday celebrations, long noodles were made to fit around a child's waist. Now they want cake.

The guy on the other end of the system, had the same size hunk of dough that he stretched, and stretched and stretched until it spontaneously separated into this long strand of fine noodles. It was a real show to watch. I tasted both soups and they were both delicious. I guess it doesn't take much to impress Westerners. I loved it. Is it any wonder Marco Polo decided to bring this wonderful food back to Italy?

I fell in love with the exquisite pottery in the museum. This piece is a pillow, believe it or not.

My second favorite was a depiction of what an ancient Chinese home would look like, with animals encased in the same abode.

Notice the precisely rendered  hooves on this horse. This artist loved horses, you can tell.

And the musicians on a camel. Whimsical.
For more pottery, click the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/106530979158681190260/TerraCottaWarriors