Ismet Tatar
A Painter of Women and Trees

A woman and a tree, both are creative, and each produces two kinds of living beings, both of whom blow life into nature...they are reshaped, recoloured by the brush strokes of a woman who fell in love with the themes of women and trees, and tells their stories. Ismet Tatar is an artist who gave up her profession as an art teacher to dedicate more time to her art. There isn't any specific style or colour that she prefers, but, as she is unlucky enough to be allergic to oil paint, she is happy to play instead with water-based paints, and the seeming incompatibility between her theme and the perfect medium of oils doesn't bother her much. Her paintings are inspired by events that she has experienced. She describes her inspiration with these words: "I question myself by thinking that someday it will be my turn to pass away, and then my thoughts begin to take shape upon my canvas and they come to life." 'A Thought About Life' and 'A Journey in the Life of a Woman' reflect the phases of womanhood, starting from puberty up to death, and are examples of works of art inspired by these events. Then comes the series of 'Before and After the Fire' tracing the terrifying fire which burned down the entire Besparmak Mountain range in 1995. When I watched those olive threes burning, I felt the fire in my flesh; I felt their cries deep in my heart, "she says. After a series of woman and trees, Ismet Tatar continued with a series named 'My Name is Olive Tree', where tree trunks and women's bodies blend. Olives trees and women...

The strong, patient, productive tree of the Mediterranean and strong, self-sacrificing, sensitive and productive women, sometimes sagacious and sometimes seductive, met in this serial. The artist, who has exhibited in New York, Strasburg, Istanbul and has held numerous exhibitions in the TRNC, doesn't know how many paintings she has completed. Her art holds a very important place in her life. When she enters her studio and closes the door, she steps into a life that she created for herself. Although painting is a kind of meditation, she always mediates before she starts working. She has had to refrain from her beloved painting due to an operation to correct a spinal problem. When she returned to her work, she found that her views had changed. "I said to myself, 'Now I am going to paint without using my brain's and started painting what I saw within one centimetre square of bark, and I am very satisfied with what I produced."

Oya Gürel
New Collonial