After a successful career as a textile designer and artist in New York City, I have returned full time to my first passion of painting on canvas. I have been making art for over forty years and combine elements from my Turkish upbringing, eight years studying in Oxford, and experience in the NYC textile industry to create lively masterpieces that delight viewers.

As a contemporary impressionist, I use bright colors infused with light together with a graceful sense of line to create still life’s and landscapes that are expressive & energetic. My subject matter is drawn primarily from my immediate surroundings in Boston, Cape Cod, New York and Westchester County. As a versatile artist, I am constantly inspired to create new techniques and evolve with color and texture.

I have developed a personal philosophy which emphasizes a bright view of life, literally seeking to fill my world with all that is pure, clean and filled with light. I have rediscovered Monet, Sargent, Van Gogh and Hassan, and found myself looking more intently at light and how color’s component parts are broken down by light. I use my skill as a precise draftsman to paint directly on the canvas with no preparatory drawings. Building and layering color and texture, I place each brushstroke and fleck of color next to each other to create vibrant tones.

I was born in the port city of Mersin, Turkey, where I was exposed to both Islamic and European art. My earliest training was detailed, realistic drawing. I later attended art school in Oxford, England, where I was introduced to abstract drawing techniques. I then pursued more specialized studies in textile design at Croydon School of Art and St. Martins School of Art in London, where I received my Masters in museum research, textile print & fashion illustration before coming to NYC.

As a textile designer, the highlight of much of my career was working as a print consultant at Ralph Lauren, creating, developing, & painting Ralph Lauren’s concepts into original print designs for apparel and home products. Although Newbury Street is his home, Sitka is well versed in the artistic cultures of places all over the world. He grew up in Southern Turkey, and was obsessed with creating art from a young age. This passion for art led him to Oxford, where he completed a master’s in museum research and fashion illustration at St. Martin’s School of Art in London. He then moved to NYC to work in the fashion industry, ultimately working in pattern design for a variety of major fashion houses for over 20 years, including Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta.

I am now [owner and artist] at Sitka Home Art Gallery, located in the heart of Boston on Newbury Street.  I never stop drawing and painting, it is my life!