I had just returned to Istanbul from a botanical trip to the Canary Islands, tired to the bone and finally planning to head home, when my father called. He was leaving for a field trip to south-eastern Turkey in two days. Some irises were in flower — and one of them was potentially a new subspecies. He needed to collect data for the upcoming volume of Illustrated Flora of Turkey, and he needed an artist. That would be me. I was exhausted, but the prospect of a field trip has a way of dissolving all fatigue. Instead of going home, I changed course immediately and joined the adventure. My bags were already packed from the previous trip — but there was one small problem: my painting materials were far away in my studio. Fortunately, my dear colleague and fellow flora artist Deniz came to the rescue, putting together a wonderful kit for me with everything I could possibly need, from paper to dissection tools. What a gem.
I flew to Kahramanmaraş and met my father and fellow botanist Fatma Güneş at the hotel. The following morning, we set out early to find Iris reticulata — the one believed to be a new subspecies. Another botanist, Tolga Ok, led the way. The moment of encountering the plant was, as always, wonderful. Everyone scattered across the field and got to work. When we had finished, I had an excellent set of samples to begin from.
After that, they dropped me back at the hotel so I could start working before the plants deteriorated. They headed off to find Iris histrio at another location. Unfortunately, my specimens couldn’t wait — so I had no choice but to miss seeing this second species in the field. They did bring me samples, though. The rest of the day was spent keeping the plants as fresh as possible while getting the first sketches underway.
On our second day, we drove toward Adana, stopping along the way to search for Iris stenophylla subsp. margaretiae — a slightly more elusive target. When we reached the known location, there was simply nothing there. We wandered up and down, hoping to spot at least a leaf or two, with no luck — until we encountered a lovely local man who lived in a house nearby. He knew the plant well, he told us, and loved the flowers so dearly that he had built a fence around part of his garden specifically to protect them from wild animals. How wonderful is that? He kindly led us to his garden, and there they were: beautiful Iris stenophylla in full bloom. He let us collect a few samples — though only a few, as there were far fewer plants here than with I. reticulata. Flowers were dissected, herbarium specimens prepared, and after a quick lunch, we continued to Adana.
For the botanists, arriving at the hotel meant rest. For me, it meant pencils, brushes, and paper — time to get to work. Even painting at full speed, completing all three specimens in two or three working days was simply not realistic. So I decided to stay an extra day. After my father and Fatma departed, I remained at the hotel alone and painted all day. I had been posting updates on Instagram throughout the trip, and it was there that Bilge — a lovely follower — saw that I was in Adana and promptly invited me to dinner. She and her husband Toprak took me to a place where I had one of the most delicious meals imaginable. Suddenly I wasn’t alone at all.
In the end, it was a sweet and thoroughly successful trip. Being out in the wild, searching for plants, is simply wonderful — but it can also be genuinely demanding for an artist. On this trip, things flowed well, and I managed to gather enough material to complete all three illustrations afterwards. I also put together a few pocket notes on what it means to do fieldwork as an artist — something I hope to share one day.
The next day I flew back to Istanbul — and yes, I did eventually make it home, with just one small detour through Ankara to visit my dear grandmother. After plenty of hugs, I finally, truly, arrived home.
It doesn’t always happen this way, but I actually managed to begin work on all three illustrations almost as soon as I returned. Here they are — the fruits of four days in the field and about a month of work afterwards.
