HW: Tell us a little about yourself Hatijeh Hanim. what do you do for a living?
Hatijeh : I am a retired English teacher and a certified IELTS Examiner, plus a student in painting now.
HW :why did you decide to start taking drawing lessons, and has it ever crossed your mind ever before?
hatijeh : After I left my teaching position at Marmara University seven months ago, I could have time to think about myself. I thought I should have a hobby and let myself try drawing.
HW : Before getting into painting, what did you enjoy doing , what where your hobbies?
Hatijeh: As a full time single parent for 24 years and a teacher of English for 28 years, I really had such a busy and hectic life that I had no chance of sparing any time even to think about a hobby. Short trips for holiday and reading were the only relaxing times for me.
HW :How did you feel after finishing your very first painting?
Hatijeh: It was magical !! Every move that I made had given a different meaning to the picture.
Discovering that I could do it has made me feel great. Appreciation from my teacher, daughter and friends also made me feel really happy.
HW : where there any challenges , being your first interaction with brush, oil painting colors, and canvas, did you plan for every stroke, or was it spontaneous?
Hatijeh: At first, seeing my friends' paintings, I thought I could never paint like them and felt scared. However, I did not give up. With the encouragement of my teacher and friends, I said to myself ;' I can try and do it.' Then within every piece of work, I learned something new.
While drawing, I tried to plan first, but later I saw that it was my feelings which direct my strokes.
HW : did you feel that this was something you actually were meant to do in your life?
Hatijeh: I had always thought that I don't have that talent, but I had never given myself the chance to try it. Now I know that painting was something meant to do for me. I feel so good that I literally dance in front of my painting when I catch the feeling I want to reflect in my picture.
HW : Does the fact that you live in Büyükada ( Big Island ,Istanbul , Turkey ) as anything to do with your artistic perspective ? how does it feel to live there?
Hatijeh: I think spending my childhood here on the island and moving back 28 years later has an effect on my artistic perspective. Being away from city traffic, noise and crowd makes you feel peaceful.
HW :when you are painting, what are your main thoughts, during those moments?
Hatijeh:While painting I think of nothing but my picture.
HW :Can you go back int time , and imagine how your life would have been like , had you discovered your painting ability ten or twenty years ago?
Hatijeh: I think NOW has been the right time to start painting for me,
because my priorities were different and I couldn't spend even hours for painting. Today, I can go to the painting course for four days.
I wish I had discovered it earlier. I could have developed myself much better, of course.
HW :what do you plan to do next? do you feel you could be serious about your painting? do you have a certain vision for your talent?
Hatijeh:I have only been painting for three months now and I have a lot to learn. I feel so happy while painting that I cannot deprive myself of this pleasure.
HW :What would be your message to other women who have not yet experimented new and unfamiliar territory, like you have done with painting?
Hatijeh: You can do it! Let yourself experiment something new. Just give yourself the chance of discovering yourself and making yourself happy, because you deserve to be happy.