BOUKOLEON PALACE (WAP #23)

One of the most memorable experiences of my two weeks in Istanbul, was the day I spent with artist & guide, Trici Venola.  She took me walking all around the city, showing me glimpses of Byzantine Constantinople in amidst the chaos of today's modern city.  It was here, whilst gazing (mouth agog) at the remains of the Buokoleon Palace that she pointed out that the sea during that time, came right up to the Palace walls, whereas in today's Istanbul, there is a big motorway & a whole district of fish sellers & restaurants to get to before encountering the lapping waves.

A few days later I was in the Museum & came across this illustration by Ioannes Skylithes in the 12th century.  It shows Empress Zoe in the Buokoleon Palace leaning out to greet  sailors.  It also illustrates the sea coming up to the walls of the Palace!

I was so excited to spot this in the glass display case.  It meant so much more having walked past the remains of the Palace a few days earlier.

This was to be my muse for this week's art project.

I had made a sketch whilst in Istanbul, so armed with that & the less than perfect photo, I decided to focus on reproducing the Palace itself.  Using pencil & a ruler first, I wanted to maintain a similar proportion to the 12th century illustration, but I also wanted to allow it to keep it's slightly higgledy appearance!

Once a line drawing was completed to my satisfaction, I then set about working out where I wanted my stitch and cutting lines to go.

Whilst this motif looks fairly simple, the work involved in trying to reproduce it was not & took me far longer than even I would have guessed!  At last though, it was time to rummage through the fabrics!

I was immediately pleased with my choices, both for their colour & the speed with which I was able to settle on them.  However, I was a teensy bit concerned about the balance of tonal values, so whipped out the camera, changed the setting & took a black & white image of them all together.  I was pleasantly surprised that light, dark & medium were almost equally balanced.  This meant I could get on with the first lot of layering up & stitching.

Before I could even begin to think of starting the main focus of my project, I needed to get the background sorted.  In this case I needed a sky & a sea.
Without cutting it back, I layered up the next lot of fabrics ready to cut back.
Here's how it went.

At last it was finished!
I was so grateful not to be the one cooking dinner last night! It meant I could just keep going, as the cutting was fiddly & slow & I ran into a few hiccups along the way.  I REALLY wanted to see it completed & thankfully, I was able to!
I am so pleased with the outcome!  My handy little gel pen enabled me to add a few touches to bring the whole piece to life.
Given the interuptions to my weekly art project in the past few months, it has been an effort to get back into a routine of focusing on these small samples of working! Although the technique in this piece is quite simple, the process of getting to the desired end is quite complex.  The practice, in itself, is incredible valuable.
I hope this encourages you in your own practicing, whatever your skill set!!