Gülsüm Tıknaz

Gülsüm Tıknaz was born in Manisa in 1959. She had an interest in handicrafts in her childhood. She worked as a nurse and made handicrafts developing her skill in spare time. After retiring, she concentrated on making needle works. In 2005, Tıknaz founded her workshop “Hanımeli Handicrafts”. In 2006, she received a jury prize in a competition, which was organized by the Hobby World magazine, belonged to Hürriyet newspaper and the İSMEK. In the same year, her 3 accessory designs and one jacket with marbling (Ebru) were published in a catalogue, which was prepared by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tıknaz has participated in many group exhibitions and fairs, and introduced traditional Turkish needle works (iğne oyaları) to the young generation.