Chasing Flowers in Bloom with Isik Güner
Pronounced “Ushuk Goonere”
Isık grew up as a child of a botanist father. When she traces back her steps, she doesn’t ever associate nature as a concept she was seeking, rather one she always felt a part of.
On a professional level, however, the path hasn’t been as straight-forward. Now an established botanical illustrator, she originally studied Environmental Engineering. Though she didn’t build a career as an engineer, she believes her training has given her an upper-hand in her current profession, as she gained the valuable skill to interpret drawings in 3D.
Dating back to a time pre-cameras, botanical illustration is about showcasing the plants exactly as they are, accurate and honest to the details, often with more definition than the untrained eye can see.
Who knew, being a botanical illustrator is more closely linked to limiting your creativity than expressing it… and their role is different to other artists’, as they are restrained from adding their own personal twist to their subjects.
“I love the delicacy and transparency of [water]colours, it is perfect for creating life-like illustrations. I know very well how they’ll react with each other, how they’ll move on paper, how they’ll change colour when I gently put more layers of colour on top.”
One of Isik’s most significant projects came about as her and her sketchbook started to become recognisable at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh. One day, a man walked up to her, threw a flower in her direction and asked her if she’d like to paint it.
This man was Martin Gardner, a well-respected conservator and researcher at RBGE, and the plant was the national flower of Chile.
So she embarked upon one of the biggest commitments of her artistic career to date, and submitted 39 botanical drawings for the book 'The Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile', 8 years in the making.
During this time, she was pretty much on call between Scotland, Turkey and Chile, flying from one place to another, chasing flowers in bloom. Three years of nomadic life came to an end after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. She marks the day she was trekking on the Himalayas during the devastating disaster, as the moment she realised where she felt safest was right there, on the mountains.
And so she settled in the mountainous region of the North East of Turkey, where she lives and works in a peaceful little cabin she calls her studio, on the hills surrounded by nature.
To see Isik’s jaw-dropping work, check out her website or her instagram.
To find out more about the Chilean Plants project, click here.
If you’re into the photography, check out Ekin Özbiçer and Göksu Baysal.
References: Artist’s own words via Isikguner.com | Sinem Çelik via denemenlazim.com
Photo Credits In Order of Appearance: Goksu Baysal | Unknown / Courtesy of the Artist | Ekin Özbiçer | Courtesy of Royal Botanical Garden Edinburg | Ekin Özbiçer | Unknown / predicted Ekin Özbiçer
