Biography :   Mr. OLCEROGLU was born in ESKISEHIR / TURKEY in 1946. He received his fine arts training from Ms. Naime SALTAN, one of the leading artists of oil painting in TURKEY, who is called "Everyone's fine arts teacher" because she has devoted herself to fine arts education for many years. Mr. Olceroglu is an Industrial Designer and Interior Architect. He has started working with pyrography technique years ago and is still continuing to work with the same technique in his private art workshop in ISTANBUL / TURKEY.
   Mr. OLCEROGLU generally prefers working on reviving the old engravings made by European artists in ISTANBUL centuries ago, during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. His aim is to save these beautiful documentary artworks from the pages of forgotten books and to introduce them to young generations.

Selahattin OLCEROGLU

A detail from one of his works ..

· Description :
Pyrography is generally known as a decorative art technique, used for applying motifs to wooden objects using hot metal tips. Today, the art of pyrography is being used in two different methods: The Decorative Method and The Painterly Method...

· Decorative Method of Pyrography :
From the antiquity, this method of pyrography has been used for decorating wooden, leather or other available objects. The decorative artworks of today’s well known artists in this field can be seen in the link below, a link to the world’s first and foremost E-Museum of Pyrographic Art founded by Ms. Kathleen Menéndez of the U.S.A., respected pyrographic art author and expert.

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/4029/decorative.html

· Painterly Method of Pyrography (Fine Art Pyrography) :
This method of pyrography was practiced also in the past centuries, espacially in the 19th century for making fine art portraits and paintings. The pyrographic artworks of the 19th century artists like Ball Hughes of  the U.K., and J. William Fosdick and Charles H.F. Turner of the U.S.A. are being kept in some of the well known museums and private collections with special care. Every year, several unknown antique pyrographic artworks are being brought to the attention of art lovers through the research of Ms. Kathleen Menéndez and Ms. Susan M. Millis of the U.K., well known pyrographic art conservator of the world; currently studying for the only known doctorate in the world dedicated to the conservation and restoration of pyrographic works with the ultimate goal of preserving antique and current works for future generations. It is believed that, there are many other antique pyrographic artworks awaiting their rediscovery in the archives of the various museums of the world and in some of the “forgotten” private art collections.

Images of some of the antique pyrographic artworks previously not brought into public view until today can be seen in the web address below and its links :

http://www.geocities.com/pyroart_emuseum/antique.html

Today, the painterly method of pyrography is being practiced in many countries with increasing interest. This method of pyrography is being applied in two different ways. Some of the artists use only the color tones of burnt wood on their wooden canvasses (panels) by staying true to the original, natural and pure form of the technique; while the others apply mixed media techniques, by adding the colors of paints to the color tones of the burnt wood. The artworks of today’s well known artists of the painterly method can be viewed in the Portraits and Paintings Hall of the E-Museum of Pyrographic Art, by clicking on the URL:

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/4029/portraits.html

Additionally, the artworks of pyrographic artists living in Turkey and other countries can be seen in the below pyrography web site of Mr. Patrick Faleur of the U.K., one of the well known photography artists of the world.

http://www.pyrography.net

· The Future of the Painterly Method of Pyrography and Its Place in the Area of Plastic Arts :
It has been observed that, some art critics and experts have some hesitations on accepting the painterly method of pyrography as a branch of plastic arts (Fine Arts) and incline to define it as a handicraft technique. The main reason for these hesitations and inclinations is the use of a wooden support and a hot metal tip in the painterly method of pyrography, instead of the classical cloth canvas and paint brush. Other reasons are that the pyrography tecnique was used for applying decorative motifs on wooden or other available objects for centuries and was known as a handicraft technique, whereas what the painterly method of pyrography is, and where it is today after the insistent efforts of some devoted masters of it are not known.

As it is clearly noted in the History of Art, the development of technology in the last few centuries has also affected the world of art and these effects have changed people’s way of looking at art and their classifications of the branches of art. For instance, branches of the plastic arts like ceramics, stained glass, glass sculpture, engraving and photography, which were classified as handicraft techniques in the past, subsequently were accepted as branches of the plastic arts in the last decades of the 20th century and included in the educational programs of the faculties of fine arts.

When the above variations are also taken into consideration, it is believed that the characteristics of materials used in the application of any art technique cannot always be seen as a reason for not accepting it as a branch of the plastic arts. As a matter of fact, some kinds of artworks are being considered in the area of plastic arts today, even if they are made by using different materials other than those classical painting materials like cloth canvas, oil paint, paint brush, etc.

The painterly method of pyrography is being used today successfully in the art of painting and should be critiqued for the artistic value of the work on the wooden canvas, instead of the characteristics of the materials used for making it. Some art critics and experts state that they are not authorized and able to critique the artistic value of these artworks because they have never seen any pyrographic painting before and do not have the expertise for making a comparison.

In fact, there should not be any problems in critiquing those pyrographic paintings which were made with the combination of burnt wood colors and the colors of paints, by using mixed media techniques. Because, it is believed that they could be considered familiar mixed media paintings as well, and could be critiqued by paying attention to the harmony amongst the colors of paints and the color tones of burnt wood.
And critiquing those pyrographic artworks, which were made only by burning the wood panel without adding the colors of paints, by staying true to the original, natural and pure form of the technique... Fundamentally, this form of pyrography is a different application of the black and white drawing technique which has been accepted as one of the basic and classical branches of the plastic arts for centuries. The only difference is that, a wooden canvas and a hot metal tip are being used in  this form of pyrography instead of a sheet of paper and a pencil. And naturally, after the application of the pyrography technique, sepia color tones are being obtained on the wooden support, instead of the color tones obtained by a pencil on paper. This is the reason why Mr. Olceroglu defines this form of pyrography as the sepia and white technique. Consequently, the artistic value of such a pyrographic artwork can be critiqued by taking into consideration the same basic criteria used in critiquing a classical black and white drawing.

The art critics and experts are right when they state that, because they have not seen any pyrographic painting before, they are not able to compare, consequently critique, how successfully the artist has applied the procedures of pyrography on his wooden canvas in regard to other pyrographic artists. However, this problem will be solved in time, when the masters of the painterly method of pyrography will display their artworks more frequently and make relentless efforts to introduce this rare technique to the world of art. In parallel to this, art critics and experts are kindly expected to approach this unknown art technique in a positive manner, support and encourage it at every opportunity.

Today, the masters of the painterly method of pyrography worldwide, like Mr. Selahattin Olceroglu of Turkey, Mr. Dumitru "Dino" Muradian of Romania, Mr. Krasimir Hristov of Bulgaria, Ms. Lorraine Zaloom and Mr. Rodger Letkeman of the U.S.A., and all of the others whose works are exhibited in the Portraits and Paintings Hall mentioned above, have already improved the application procedures of this rare technique through their insistent efforts and prepared the required basis for young generations to practice it. After inspecting a perfectly made example of the painterly method of pyrography, it will be confirmed that, this art form deserves to be accepted as a new branch of plastic arts and that it has a great potential for creating its own Mona Lisas.

It is believed that; the painterly method of pyrography will be a well recognized art form in the future and that its masters who lived in the past, as well as its masters from future generations will take their honorable places in the history of art and in art encyclopedias together with their wonderful artworks, in the same way as the great artists and their wonders of the painting technique of plastic arts are today.

· Pyrographic Works of Mr.Selahattin Olceroglu:
Years ago, Mr. Olceroglu thought that the colors of burnt wood would match excellently with the character of old looking scenes, historical subjects, old buildings etc. However, the  application of the pyrography technique had to be improved in order to make it possible to produce artworks with the quality of other painting techniques. Then he designed a metal tip that would enable him to obtain all medium tones of burnt color on the wooden canvas. After  long and insistent efforts, he succeeded in forming pyrographic artworks in black and white method making use of  this hot tip.

Today, Mr. Olceroglu is known as one of the world masters of the pyrography. He defines the painterly method of pyrography as the sepia and white technique and considers it as an alternative to the classical black and white (pencil drawing) technique. In his sepia and white technique, the tones of burnt wood color range from very light to very dark sepia on his wooden canvasses.

Mr. Olceroglu never uses any kind of paint on his works because he thinks that the colors of paints detract from the original form and the nature of pyrography technique and dilute the exquisite color of burnt wood, which is the basic and the only color of a true pyrographic artwork. In fact, he doesn’t even like his works to be called paintings because no paint is used when making them. He obtains all sepia color tones only by burning his wooden canvas with a hot metal tip at different heat levels. He applies the same technique when making the frame design on the same canvas, this time as a fine decorative work.

Mr. Olceroglu describes the formula of the painterly method of pyrography as simply “one percent talent and ninety nine percent patient and sensitive work.” Up to date, he has made many pyrographic artworks for the art lovers living in different countries of the world, from Brasil to Japan.

Mr. Olceroglu generally works to recreate The Engravings of Old Istanbul which were made by European Artists centuries ago. He criticizes himself on this subject in this way :

“I will simply say that I must immadiately quit working on reproducing those engravings and create my own original works in order to participate in the efforts for promoting the art of pyrography as a new branch of the plastic arts. I am aware of this obligation of mine for years, but I couldn’t do it until today because I love those Old Istanbul Engravings very much. I want to introduce them to younger generations in a different appearance, and I want to state my personal appreciation to the memories of those European Artists because they have created these beautiful documentary artworks, published them in their own countries and have acted like our honorary ambassadors by introducing the wonders of Istanbul in their own countries centuries ago. As a matter of fact, I have been dreaming of a big project about them...”

“... As it is known, The European Council has declared the city of Istanbul as The Cultural Capital of Europe for the year 2010. For this reason, many cultural activities will be taking place in Istanbul in that year. I have been dreaming to participate in these activities with my own artworks. I want to make a minimum of 20, if possible 25 pyrographic reproductions of Old Istanbul engravings and exhibit them  in memory of those European Artists both in Istanbul and in their own countries.
I think this project will be the best way of showing my personal appreciation; however, it is still in dreaming phase, because I can’t afford all the expenses of such a big activity and I do need to make an agreement with a big company that would sponsor and organize such an international event. In the event that this plan should fail for any reason, I will then have the time to devote to making my original pyrographic artworks.”

Mr. Olceroglu ‘s interesting story of starting pyrography and the other ideas of him concerning this exquisite art technique are told in an article written by Ms. Kathleen Menéndez. This article is being published in the address below :

http://carverscompanion.com/Ezine/Vol10Issue4/KMenendez/KMenendez.html

The art lovers who are wishful to learn more about pyrography and the well known artists of this technique are kindly recommended to read the other delightful, documentary articles of Ms. Menéndez. It is possible to reach these articles by clicking the term Back Issues found under the title Woodcarvers On-Line Magazine in the article mentioned above, about Mr. Olceroglu.

The images of Mr. Olceroglu’s three pyrographic artworks in the painterly method can be viewed in E-Museum of Pyrographic Art in the address below:

http://www.geocities.com/pyroannex2/solceroglu.html

· Impressions About the Works of the Artist :
In his long professional life, Mr. Olceroglu was able to open only one personal exhibition in Nov. 1999, during the celebration of the 700th anniversary of foundation of the Ottoman State. Some impressions of the art experts and visitors regarding his works are listed below :

× “The exquisite and unique techniques which the artist uses, as well as his sensitive and perfect choice of subject matter make him truly a premier artist in his field.”
× “Your work is of an unbelievably high standard.”
× “At which rate can the works of a human being deserve the definition "extraordinary" Mr. Olceroglu has succeded to force the peak level”
× “So attractive and lively that you feel yourself a part of it, you feel yourself living at the same place in the past.”
× "Well known classical painting techniques have been challenged by an unknown, bewildering technique."
× “I will shortly state my impressions with only one word : "Splendid"”

· Contact Mr. Selahattin Olceroglu