A Fascination with Beauty and Abundance

I spent most of my childhood summers at my family's house on the Aegean coast in Turkey, where reeds (Arundo donax, giantgrass, or kargı in Turkish) grew in abundance along the shoreline. Planted many years ago by local farmers to protect the adjacent crops from the effects of sea-weather, they spread tall and wide, almost out of control, bordering the beach and the farmland.

I was always fascinated with their abundance, strength and versatility. I would spend hours cutting and trimming and whittling kargı for toys and countless other utilitarian purposes around the house.

This influence set the stage for later years at various places I lived and visited, where I continued working with the materials readily available around me, to create artifacts for self-expression and pure enjoyment of the shape, color and variety of the materials.

The ultimate pleasure lies within the many moments while working with the materials directly: gathering, cleaning, sorting, examining and handcrafting, which is when I experience the awareness of being part of the natural world.

Currently, I live in Waimanalo, Hawaiʻi, where the ʻāina provides materials of yet another dimension and magnitude.