In the hands of the Tabanlı Family, trees have been turning into works of art for 60 years. İsmail Tabanlı, the eldest of the family, left his carpentry profession, which he started as an apprentice as a child, as a legacy to his son Abdullah and his family.

We listened to the family’s story in their workshop in the humble village of Tuzburgazı, under their house, which overlooks the mountain and the sea at the same time.

İsmail Tabanlı met carpentry in Eskişehir in the early 1960s, when he was 11-12 years old. “His master used to say that it was clear from that time that he would become a disciplined person,” his son Abdullah talks about his father.

He came to Aydın in 1981, at the age of 20, when he was the father of 3 children. Although he initially established his workshop in Doğanbey, they moved to Tuzburgazı Village because there were problems with electricity at that time.

Even though he was very young, İsmail Bey was a man who meticulously practiced his profession and was on the way to mastering carpentry. Many of the stone buildings you see in Doğanbey today have window frames and wooden doors made by his hands.

İsmail Bey left the workshop entirely to his son Abdullah in 2010. Abdullah, who has been working in that workshop since he was 10 years old and sometimes fell asleep on the wood chips at that time, is now 43 years old.

He works with his wife Pınar and their two children Zeynep and Cemre. Here, trees turn into inlaid doors, chests, ornate tables, chairs, window frames, and more.

Abdullah and Pınar actually met in childhood. Since Pınar was 7 years younger than him, Abdullah kept her at a distance at that time, but when Pınar was 19, they started talking about their marriage.

They got married soon after, in 2006. Pınar is the daughter of a farmer’s family and her hands are used to working and putting in the effort. Soon she was helping her husband.

Abdullah says he is proud of his wife. When we go down to the workshop a little later, we watch Pınar together as she works. It’s nice to see the love and admiration in Abdullah’s way of looking at her.

However, not everyone is allowed to approach some of the machines. As he says this, Abdullah shows his index finger, which he used to get caught in the machine when he was younger. “Everyone has a different job in the workshop. When everyone does their part, we finish our work well, without any accidents,” he says.

I turn to the children to see if everyone is happy with this responsibility. Zeynep, who is 15 years old, said: “I like to do things with my hands. My job is sanding and painting in the workshop. I think I am talented in painting. Painting with a brush seems to be related to painting to me and I enjoy doing it very much,” she says.

11-year-old Cemre admits with a chuckle that she sometimes complains about situations. But the way Cemre tells how she loves her life in the village, her words are really punchy.

“When I go to Söke with my grandparents, I miss the stars so much. There, the city lights prevent me from seeing the stars. I miss this place, our garden, our dogs.” says Cemre.

Then she adds excitedly, “One day I went to buy bread on my bike. On the way back, I suddenly realized that I love the street of our village very much.” Cemre fascinates herself with the seriousness of adults on her face and the childlike happiness brought by the age of 11 in her eyes and voice.

Pınar, on the other hand, says that although she loves the village thanks to the view of their house, being intertwined with natural life and the calmness, she is a little worried because her children do not receive more qualified education.

She says she would be happier for the children if they had more opportunities to improve their quality of life and a better education school. However, Pınar saw that it was a great chance to be in the village during the pandemic.

Moreover, the pandemic has been a period when their work was more productive. Abdullah thinks that people are more interested in their homes during the pandemic period, and the increase in orders for home decoration at that time is due to this.

When he watches his children at work, Abdullah is both proud and emotional because he remembers his own childhood. “My father was very strict. I used to be very upset that I couldn’t keep up with playing with my friends. Of course, I’m not like that against my daughters.”

While the folk music coming from the radio fills our ears, the light filtering through the window illuminates Ateş, the dog, lying on the ground which tags after us from the garden.

I marvel at this gifted family, especially at its giftedness to create love and happiness. You can look at the products of these gifted hands on their Instagram pages: tabanliahsapsanati.