Motivations
Özlem PAJIK JONES
I have always drawn pictures as a very practical means of expressing myself since my early years. At primary school, my ability to draw was initially misinterpreted by my dear teacher Mustafa Bey, who summoned my mother to the school and asked her to stop drawing my art homework for me… When he finally understood that it was actually me who was the real artist I became one of his favourite students. He even got me to draw the illustrations for a children’s book he was planning to publish.
Later, in my high school years, my curiosity for painting led me to participate in a competition organised throughout Istanbul’s upper secondary schools in 1982, in which I was awarded second prize for a watercolour composition about Turkish youth following in Atatürk’s footsteps.
During my university years in Istanbul, I discovered the magnificent world of old Ottoman miniatures at the Sahaflar Çarşısı, a paradise of old books situated next to my faculty. After classes, we used to admiringly leaf through those books under the huge centuries-old maple trees. This is how I started drawing miniatures on hand-scripted antique papers and selling them to the gift shop in the Islamic Arts Museum in Sultanahmet.
During my post-graduate years in Surrey (United Kingdom) and the years after graduation, my passion for painting continued but starting up a professional career did not leave much spare time for it. A couple of years later however, shortly before I came to work at the Council of Europe in December 1996, I managed to attend the miniature painting courses organised by the masters of this form in Topkapı Palace.
My first days in Strasbourg were tough: new country, new job, new language… Lots of challenges but little time for hobbies… After some years, however, I found a way back to my old and enduring passion: I started watercolour painting classes at the Council of Europe. Then I attended a short course on medieval illuminations. So, alongside my professional career, drawing and painting have, on and off, kept me good company like two dear old friends.
At the beginning of 2012, I took a big decision to spend more time on art. The works presented in this project are the first results, the first “flowers of my secret garden”. I learned a lot from art classes with Madame Estelle Laniole at the Université Populaire during the academic year of 2012. I have been taking painting lessons from Monsieur Pierre Zanuttuni since July 2012. I have also attended evening classes in the Strasbourg Academy of Fine Arts with Monsieur Franck Helmlinger during the academic year of 2013. I have very much enjoyed being the student of all the above-mentioned French art teachers.
The drawings presented in this project are the fruits of my “broad imagination”. There are fantastic flowers, planets and some interpretations of the legendary Anatolian medusa-like figure Şahmaran. Creating them was great fun for me. I hope that they will brighten your life and transport you into the fantastic world of colours. Enjoy them.
I would like to thank my dear husband, Ashley Jones, for his love and support. Last but not least, I would like to thank my dear mother, Suna Pajik, an art and handicraft professor who initiated me into the wonderful world of art and creation.
