By Heidi Trautmann

In mid-August I visited an exhibition which was announced as Pencil Drawings of Still Lives. What I saw then were scenes of old Cypriot cultural scenes, old city images, landscapes, artisans at work, drawings of well known persons.

Önder Karacaoglu is a very prolific drawer. He visits old Cypriot work studios and catches the typical atmosphere around the artisan, the tools necessary to perform the act, a shoemaker, a chair-maker – you know, these typical Cypriot wicker chairs – a flute maker – and surprise: exactly these artisans were present at the evening of the opening and they were re-enacting the painted scene on the wall. A charming idea.

The medium Önder uses is charcoal and here and there pencil, mostly photos being the reference. Charcoal drawing is an ancient art form. You work with all kind of tools and mostly with your fingers, you can scratch out fine lines or use cloth or rubber to wipe out spaces. A form of illustration to support representation in black and white rather than colour, much cheaper for printing. This kind of work is interesting for the preservation of cultural heritage, as the artist can concentrate on the most important details of the image and can point out important details. It is also widely used for portraiture and advertising of products such as Önder shows in some pictures.

But judge for yourself from the photos I took.