Alev TOKER

I have exhibited my work after finishing the courses.

In the meantime while enjoying my profession as a lawyer. I worked in a private company, took part in management and got master's degree from Marmara University - Labour Economy.

I had a long, nice work experience in Aygaz Company - a Koç Holding Company which is one of the biggest holdings in Turkey.

Aygaz A.S. is the company where I retired.

I attended various courses, training programs and conferences within the country and abroad.

One of my nice experience was that I attended to a conference in Geneve in 1998 where I represented Turkish Employers Union. The subject was "Tripartite Meeting on Employment and Industrial Relations Issues in Oil Refining". Swiss Law has been specially important for me since my faculty years.

During the period of 26 long years in business life with full of creative projects and active work, I continued to do hand work to avoid the stress of the business life. Threads, beads, paints, wools, flowers, lace work were my best friends because they made me happy and relax.

You would be surprised to see, these marvelous objects how positively contributed to my mission which I've undertaken in my business life. I have never lost my belief in the meaning of an old Turkish proverb "The iron never rusts if it works."

Have you ever thought the people whom you are influenced and who made your dreams come true, who gave a direction to your future-plans, in your life? It was my beloved mother who I personally never stopped thinking of . It's time to introduce you this special person, Rukiye Taştekin. She was a graduate of an institute with the main courses, students had home economics, table setting, formal and informal invitations, sewing and embroidery courses where skills were combined with the knowledge. My mother was a teacher in the private and the state schools for long years. Even now, after her death in1995, I see her students around telling me about those days. I can see the joy and pride in their sparkling eyes. I believe my attraction to art is genetic.

I believe that, with the help of the sewing courses in the primary education, girls and boys had a positive contribution in their lives and they have had a special knowledge about this subject which will help them throughout their life.

As years passed by, I read more and more books about art - stitching, lace work, knitting, crazy-work... But I could never imagine that one day I would decide to take patch work, crazy work and silk ribbon courses from a "Judith Baker Montano's" student, "Nur Çubukçu" who is the author of the book "Dances of the Ribbons".

What I have learned in those courses, "especially adding crazy additions to improve a technique called forty patches" which has been already used in Turkey - is a real gain for me. Working with nice and creative friends made this experience more valuable.

I had also made visits to the rural areas of Turkey where I found chance to deeply search Turkish hand craft and later on I used these materials in my designs. After combining different clothes in my crazy work, I tried to display my creativity using materials I collected for years and also using "mokuba", "ylı" silk ribbons and DMC embroidery threads.

I sometimes use beads, sometimes half valuable stones, and buttons and always complete hand embroidery.

I believe my products which are really special and unique will be especially preferred by those special people who do not prefer façon products. As I stated above, these unique products are worth passing to your children and even grand children.

In all those years, I could not even think of marketing my products because I liked them so much but finally in the age of 50's, I thought I would feel happier if I shared them with the other people.

The part I enjoy most, in my work, is the producing part and when all work is finished, I take pleasure of making myself a cup of Turkısh coffee, taking a sip and watching my product as if it was my own dear child.

No stress anymore - I feel happy and relaxed!..