What is the main purpose of hobby workshops in practice? Why do people rushing into hobby workshops, expect from stone painting, jewelry design, DJ performance and many more, what do they get?
Therapy with colors: "Do not say I have no talent, give it a try"
In Bostanci, the owner of the hobby workshop, Füsun Doğan works with different techniques and materials such as painting, modeling, 3 dimensional work with dough, stone painting.
You are teaching children and adults such different time periods as on weekends, on weekdays, during the daytime and in the evening. What are the general characteristics of trainees, expectations?
They vary a lot. Adults coming on the weekends are from a group of stressed professionals such as doctors, engineers, and lawyers. The reasons for joining the workshop are getting rid of the stress. When they come here, they find themselves immersed in the work. It is just because when they produce something here, they escape from the hectic life because they totally focus on it. They express their feelings saying that ‘I am totally relaxed’ ‘I do not suffer from headache anymore’. In fact, we call it therapy with colors. The group joining on weekdays consists of people who are not working, people do not work temporarily or early retirees.
Is there anyone who turns this hobby into a profession ?
There are many people who join the hobby workshop and say, "I actually found the place where I belong to, the job I needed to do". After the training she received here, a housewife has recently got admission to the textile department of a private university and started studying. We follow our friends who are fashion designers and make defecations. There are also some architects.
What is the secret or attraction point of hobby workshops for you?
Most people today do not notice, but our vital need is to produce. So, we suggest people to give it a try instead of calling themselves untalented. Creativity is something different, but painting is something you can learn. The people who produce it also meet the need to actualize themselves in this way. It is so nice to see them giving their works as a gift to their friends or exhibit them on our exhibition. Intuitively, there is no way that you cannot go ahead by working regularly and working with fondness.
“Many people prefer becoming a DJ because it makes a lot of money!”
We can see the reflection of DJ on hobby world. According to Connection Records DJ School Producer Duhan Send, interest in being a DJ is growing, as it is getting more popular day by day.
What are the expectations of the students?
There are people who are into music or dream of being DJs, and there are also some people thinking that they are talented and want to know what they can and cannot do... We had even students joining us because being a DJ makes a lot of money.
What features a DJ-to-be should have?
A person who wants music to be their occupation should have musical aptitude and talent. But if they want to be a DJ, they also need extra sense for rhythm.
Do you have any unusual students at your school? Or have you ever gone to listen to a trainee?
There is someone here who has been trained and become a trainer afterwards. Among the current students there are both doctors and lawyers. If there are really talented ones among the students, and if the trainers see the light on them, they can give a reference about the trainees for some small-scale performances. There is even something we call warm-up. Our trainers take the gifted students to the stage half an hour before their own performance. We have a student who gets trained in winter and performs his talent on the stage in Bodrum in summer. In fact, they are both trained and if they are really talented they find themselves getting in the music world.
How much do DJs earn?
It's entirely up to you and your popularity. So, you need to be known to earn more. This means that you should have your own unique music. I can say ‘no name’DJs can earn around 750-1,000 TL at a night. The upper limit is up to 50 thousand euros.
“ People feel like getting meditated in the Ikebana course"
As a hobby, you may think tens of hand-made crafts, but the ikebana is totally different when considered other craft-making hobbies. Retired English Teacher Turkan Füsun Güleç has been trained for three years on Japanese flower arranging art that she met because of her husband’s duty at the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo. In Istanbul, she provides training to people on this art “ikebana.”
What is Ikebana?
Ikebana is a Japanese art of flower arranging. The word means, "living flower". It has a universal artistic sense and a special philosophy.
How is the interest in Turkey?
Now the interest is rising through internet, but its fame and popularity around the world is not yet in Istanbul. This will be possible with awareness.
What changes in person’s life that joins your Ikebana course?
Its technique is based on its philosophy and its philosophy on Buddhism. We go on spiritual journey with Ikebana. It goes hand in hand with nature. We are similar to nature. Imagine the branch of a tree. Just as it can be broken in the wind but keeps on living, we human beings can also get offended or hurt mentally. We can have spiritual ruins. We blend the Ikebana technique with our spiritual side. Students participated in the workshops describe it as a relaxation time because they express how relieved they feel just like after a psychotherapy or feel like they are in meditation. Unsurprisingly, Far East philosophy is based on purification and enlightenment.
What is the Ikebana technique?
Flowers, stones, everything you use must be natural. The technique is asymmetric, not symmetrical. But it is not random. Every flower has a meaning that it symbolizes which makes the technique as deep as philosophy.
