CREATE COLLECT DECORATE

AYŞEN GÜREL SİLE

ARTFUL INSPIRATIONS were collected in three separate books on the subjects of CREATE - COLLECT - DECORATE,
which have transitions with each other. The volumes, prepared in Turkish and English in a specially designed box, bring
Ayşen Gürel Sile's refined taste and artistic background to its readers.

Ayşen Gürel Sile shares her experiences and sources of inspiration and creates compositions visually and verbally. Her
"Artful Inspirations" are compiled into three books with transitions between them.

In these books, Create - Collect - Decorate, you will find the versatile artist's creations, cultural memories,

and traces of the land she was born. Ayşen migrated from Istanbul, a city with a rich

multicultural history, to America at a young age.

The beautiful and poster-worthy compositions were captured in photographs by Faruk Sile.

It all begins with imagining. This book, where you will find clues to turn your dreams into designs, might awaken the artist within you to inspire and embark on creative projects.

It is my belief that my first steps begin with dreams.

The early steps I took were pursuits of art that enchanted me.

My journey culminated into the books now grasped by your hands.

“Artful Inspirations” is a trilogy book series consisting of Create - Collect - Decorate.

While the volumes have distinct titles, you will find transitions across the volumes due to their close relationship. The pages, which consist of compositions I have prepared in a poster approach, were carefully selected from approximately seven thousand photographs taken by my husband Faruk Sile,

a graphic designer and professional photographer.

My sources of inspiration, the collections that emerged from the objects I have gathered over many years, reflect insights I acquired during the years I worked as an artist, designer, and decorator.

When I speak of collections, you should not merely think of physical objects; memories, too,

I collected and wrote on them as if I had a chat with you.

You will discover my stories of what I observed while traveling some parts of the world, the things

that gave me inspiration and left an impression on me, and the topics that are dear to my heart.

Although I have lived in the United States for forty years, it would not be possible for me to not speak

of the love in my heart and the longing I feel for the legendary city of Istanbul,

where I was born and raised, as well as my beautiful home country of Türkiye.

Through my books, I desire to leave a mark on daily living with small artistic touches and

aim to present my “Life Exhibition.”

I did it my way,

Ayşen

CREATE

COLLECT

DECORATE

About Artful Inspirations

Süleyman Saim Tekcan

Artist / Founder of Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts (IMOGA)

Ayşen Gürel Sile has been sharing her "Artistic Inspirations" with us in a creative way in America, where she has been living for over forty years. At various times, she has given a "timeless life" to her works adapted to a canvas, metal, or jewelry, each with a poster-like photo concept.

The striking color components in her successful compositions take us on a historical journey. She has visually created her life's novel through her collections and decorations.

Look at her works as three separate books or an exhibition she has opened in three different salons under "Create - Collect - Decorate."

Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu

Graphic Artist

With great interest, I flipped through the pages of Ayşen Gürel Sile's books

"Artistic Inspirations: Design, Collection, Decoration," and enjoyed reading them...

Perhaps because we were raised in the same school and discipline, I loved the books because I saw myself in most of it.

While presenting the details that exist in our lives but are unseen by many, she leaves us with a taste, like the one left by a beautiful poem in our soul; the book ends, but the feeling and profound emotion it leaves behind continues.

When we look at Ayşen Gürel Sile's life, we see that it is as meticulous as the touch of silk fabric and as detailed as crocheting a needle lace. Çetin Altan once said that a person should have taste, intelligence, and elegance - and we can see that she possesses more than these.

I sincerely congratulate Ayşen Gürel Sile for her book "Artful Inspirations."

I must also say that I greatly admire the book's design, and I wholeheartedly congratulate my friend and colleague Faruk Sile, for the scrupulous photography and careful layouts on its pages.

Mehmet Aksoy

Sculptor

Ayşen and the coincidences...

Let's begin with the question of how one becomes a coincidence hunter. Coincidences don't happen coincidentally. It requires a specific accumulation, level of consciousness, curiosity triggered by existential ability, and concentration. When you come across a detail of the whole forms you have imagined in your mind, whether in nature, at work, on the street, or at home, you don't miss it; you capture it. You can see things others don't see and hear something they don't listen to; objects in your hand gain meaning within your frame. It could be a pebble, leaf, tree bark, or feather, resulting in a painting, an engraving, a decorative item, or even jewelry.

Ayşen is one such "coincidence hunter." For this, she has artistic accumulation, culture, delicate taste refined through the sieve, and a connection withn ature, like being herself.

I wish her success on this path. With this concentration, new coincidences will arise, and each work will birth a new creation, producing new Ayşens.

Bülent Özükan

Editor-Publisher

Books are enlightening.

They satisfy curiosity.

They are sources of creativity.

Suppose you are interested in collections and care about your home's decoration. In that case, you will love Ayşen Gürel Sile's book "Artful Inspirations," which consists of three volumes, "Create – Collect - Decorate."

I enjoyed them and found them successful. With these books, enriched with labor and life, you will experience the joy of discovering hints for your great ideas while adding small pleasures to your life. All three books mainly consist of photographs with depth and meaning, like posters.

When your preferences intersect with Ayşen's, and you resonate with the same emotional frequency, you will browse aesthetic quests in every photograph and feel like you are reading long-lasting articles that lead you to smile-inducing home designs and collection ideas.

Each new photo page will take you on a journey related to your artistic inspirations. Perhaps you will discover new creations from things you couldn't bear to throw away and have hidden in a corner of your home. You will also realize that valuable and expensive items are not always necessary, just like starfish washing up on the beach -you can start with anything.