bio
i was born in 1978, in ankara - turkey as the second daughter to wonderful parents. i spent my early youth at a small industrial town near ankara. my will to get out of there shaped my dreams and eventually, future. arts and music became a part of my life since early years for i saw it as an escape from the small-town mentality i was surrounded with. i took violin lessons and listened to my mother's colorful descriptions of the multi-disciplinary renaissance artists.
art was no my first choice of study. i was expected to make a more practical choice and i had chosen nuclear engineering. my adventure at hacettepe university lasted for a while. meantime i enjoyed courses like thermodynamics besides ancient greek and philosophy. my favorite place in the campus was the library where i could read about literature and arts for hours at end. then i would go to the arts department, using friends as an excuse and sneak into their classes.
finally came a change of majors and i moved to rochester ny to study fine arts. i had a wonderful experience. i had a chance to work together with several talented people, and attended lectures by valuable professors. i also met my husband upon leaving the usa.
following my graduation i got married to bas and our relationship sailed over three continents and four countries. we are currently living in belgium but hope to travel more. it was not easy moving from one place to another and starting over each and every time. meantime we both had to work so many different jobs in such different sectors. Varied and intense, my job experience made me the person i am now and my artistic work also matured and developed in a parallel manner.
i am now working as an artist and illustrator for children's books and give private lessons and workshops over painting & drawing. i play the violin in vlaams symfonisch orkest (flemish symphony orchestra).