HAMMAM (#25 WAP; Istanbul)

For my last weekly art project inspired by my time in Istanbul, I've chosen to use the Hamam experience as my source of inspiration.

This is partly due to the fact that, this week, the pestemal that I bought whilst there & have been using ever since to dry my hair after showering each morning....has finally become too thin & holey & has been sent to the fabric stash in my workroom!

A Hamam is a public cleansing experience, shared with people of the same gender in the privacy of a specifically designed space.

Here's an extract from my travel blog whilst there in 2011;

"I am not a dirty person, but with what I've learnt about bathing in the Turkish Baths, there is definitely an art to cleanliness!

 REQUIREMENTS:
 1 - Pestemal, an over sized tea-towel which is wrapped sarong-like around the body. Made of cotton & very absorbent. (So good, I brought one home!)

 2 - Kese, an abrasive mitt.  I chose a silk one, which was the cheapest & least scratchy! (And... I could bring this home too!)

 3 - Soap, the ideal here is olive oil soap which lathers up well & is good for the skin.  It comes in  various fragrances, and frequently has abrasive bits in it, like cinnamon bark to act as an exfoliant.

4 - Wooden clogs, these are supposed to prevent you from slipping on wet marble & are like an elevated flipflop/jandal except that the strap crosses all the toes instead of between the first two!  It was a challenge to find clogs long enough for my size 10 feet. This was not to be my Cinderella moment, so I made do with shuffling along with my heel hanging over the back of the biggest ones they had!

5- Hamam bowl, usually made of silver or copper,  these are used to scoop up water to sluice or cool down. (This is the one I bought & now store my hair brush & etc in!!)

6 - Turkish bath house, (ie; Hamam) a building with a domed roof with blister-like glass protrusions. (On close inspection they look more like pert breasts!) these let light into the Hamam & nothing else! Inside, the interior is largely made of marble.
7 - An attendant, masseuse & body washer.  They come in all shapes & sizes, are female & wear a uniform which looks like black speedoes with matching shorts. They are MUCH stronger than they look!!!
 (The attendants, not the uniform!)"

With the memory of being lathered up, sluiced off & pummelled multiple times... I set about making visual notes of the patterns stamped into my Hamam bowl & the shape of the Hamam roof top, before working up a design into which I could insert the remains of my silk kese & my pestemal.

And then it was time to search the fabrics for the right combination to complete my design.  I chose a monochromatic range of greys to represent both the roof & my bowl.

Once cut to size, ironed & the design transferred onto the top layer, it was time to stitch through the fabrics & then start cutting back.

This is how the cutting back went....

Ahem....admittedly there was at least one step of the process that missed out on being photographed! Sorry.
Nevertheless, I am very pleased with this final piece to my Istanbul inspired weekly art projects.
The stripey fabric is the remains of my pestemal & the interior of the two circles contain fragments of the silk kese. I particularly like the addition of that piece of edging at the top of my finished piece.  It's dangley fringe draws the eye down to the patterns of the bowl below.  I also like the contrast between the stripes & curves.

This has been such a fun project & I have thoroughly enjoyed revisiting my memories as well as the plethora of photos I took whilst in the beautiful city of Istanbul.  My plan now, is to neaten each piece up & make it into a fabric book.

As for the weekly art projects...I think it's time I revisited my trip to Egypt!  Lot's of wonderful inspiration there & I'm looking forward to seeing what design ideas & practice comes from it. In the meantime...happy creating!