song boats and birds
The Song of the Stone
‘This brown one,’ he tells me, ‘is over ten years old. She has a good time here until she dies of heart failure’, he quips.I had parked my car at the Stone Grill Restaurant near Karaoglanoglu and walked along an alley of stone statues standing guard for the man I have come to interview, a legendary artist in many disciplines. A skilled carpenter – perhaps you have one of his carved chests or mirrors in your house. He was once an acrobat in the circus and for the past 30 years he expresses himself as a sculptor and artist in questions of life. I stopped at a huge uncut piece of stone, put my hand out to touch it. Ali sees the question in my eyes. ‘I buy my stone from a place in the mountains near Gazimagosa . They put fire in the belly of the mountain and out come pieces like this one. It is like a birth. Not every piece is suited for my work. So, when I have to choose from them, I use my axe to check the life in them and I listen to the sound, the song of stone, I call it. When the stone sings to me, I take it. I like the stone to give me some resistance, when the sound is dull, nothing will come out of it.’ Firestone and sandstone, these are the types of stone he selects for his ‘pictures’. He tells me that firestone has a finer grain while sandstone is somewhat coarser and both are fine material to cut and to work with. ‘come with me,’ he beckoned, ‘ I will show you. This lady, I am working on now, is made of firestone. You see, how finely you can work the surface? And here, this lion fighting, is made of sandstone too.’ Yes, I can feel the difference.I follow him and touch the surface of his sculptures that seen so human, so simple in expression and motion. You can see the way his mind works, he is in no way complicated things. His love for animals becomes evident and I ask him how he has studied their anatomy. ‘ I have studied them in my big book and in films and once I have them in my mind I know all about them. Look around you, my animals, dogs, donkey, rabbits, ducks, and my birds, I have learnt from them, I know how they function.’ What about your human figures, have you also studied them as closely? ‘Oh yes I have, the human body has always been one of my main concerns through all my life. You know, I have been exercising mine every single day of my life, and it had thrilled me so much that I become an acrobat. ‘Yes, I can see that, his ladies are all very fit and, if I may say so, very acrobatic.
I want to know more. What kind of tools is he using? When I look at these huge pieces of nearly two square metersl wonder how he cuts them into a workable size? Does he use electrical power?
‘What, oh no, never’ he declares. ‘My tools are very simple, here is the axe to cut the shape roughly and then I decide how to go from here. When I do a wild animal, I continue with the axe but when I do ladies, I use finer tools. Often I make the tools myself to use them for a certain pattern. The direction of the cut is very important, also the impact. It all makes the stone alive. I make scratches, punctures, waves by just using the proper tool, and for the final touch I use a brush to polish it or I use sandpaper.’‘And then’, he giggles, ‘ you can rub some earth onto the surface to make it look very old, and also, if you have time, you can bury the piece for a couple of months and the Department of Antiquity will never believe that you have made it yourself’. I ask Ali if he also teaches sculpture. ‘Sometimes.’ And then I ask him timidly whether he would take me on as a student. ‘ You tell me, when you are ready and I will teach you the song of the stone.’
When I went back to my car full of ideas, I saw him crawl into his boat where he has lived for the last 30 years. This is a man living his art.
About the Author
Write about cyprus, villages,love to write about cyprus visiting village and historical places lots of informatian for cyprus visitorsNorth Cyprus Hotels
♥ ¤ Animash || Boats and Birds (470 subber video) ¤ ♥
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