F Gulsima Baykal

I am a nature lover and I feel my inner self only when I dive in nature. Thus, I decided to move into the mountains in North Antalya, an hour drive away from the shore.
I've enjoyed all kinds of creative activities all my life, and I made painting a part of my life at a later stage.
The long journey is continuing, learning about and performing art is now my life style. I believe that art is life - life is art.

I graduated from the Chemical Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey in 1981. I first worked as a maths, chemistry and physics teacher; then as an English teacher.
In 1991, I received a master's degree on Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Aston University, Birmingham, England.
Being an individual highly involved in creative activities, in 1997, I decided to get art education. Thus, I attended the continuous education programme at the Fine Arts Department of the Middle East Technical University. The instructor was Prof. Dr. Tansel Türkdoğan.
Then in 2010, I went to the New York Academy of Art (New York, USA), CE program. There I mainly took figurative drawing, oil painting and watercolor courses.  The education involved drawing and painting from live models for about 270 hours. 
Between 2010 and 2014, I received private tutoring on Art Concepts and consultancy from Dr Ayla Eriş, a painter and art instructor from the Muğla University, Department of Fine Arts.
In December of 2012, I attended a two-week workshop with Tom Ferrara (Approaches to Composition) at National Academy School of Fine Arts (New York, USA).
I am a life-time learner so I'm still learning through watching, listen...

In addition to many group shows, I had four solo exhibitions. First two in Yalıkavak, Bodrum, Turkey (in 2013 December and 2014 May); the third in İbradı, Antalya, Turkey (in 2017 April); and the fourth one in Ankara, Firca Art Gallery (in 2021 October).