Deniz from Istanbul

Tonight I painted 12-year-old Deniz from Istanbul in Turkey. This painting is part of my series about climate activists.

Several national and international media interviewed Deniz. She also held a speech at the university. I think what makes Deniz unique is that she encourage people to talk about the climate. One of her signs asks people to ask her questions about the environment. By doing so, she not only needs to dare to talk to people, but she must also know a lot about the climate.

It is good to encourage people to talk about the climate. Right now, I feel that the environment is the elephant in the room. People avoid talking about the environment as much as possible. That is a bad thing because we are running out of time. Something needs to change, and they need to improve quicker.

The painting is made from a recent photo. It is a bit chilly in Turkey right now. I changed her sign so that it would fit at the bottom of the painting. I tried to keep her way of writing the letters.

I posted it, and Deniz liked it very much!

(Deniz re-posted the image on her Instagram and after two days she had 487 likes. Until today my most popular image had 35 likes.)