By Heidi Trautmann

Over the years I have met Hasan at many exhibition openings of artists in North Cyprus and whenever we met we talked about art.  I had seen some of his work before - in the studio of Feridun Işiman, where he was a student for six years, and in some group exhibitions. Hasan is a passionate art lover and he tells me that for all his life he wanted to be a painter.

Now, at the announcement of his first solo exhibition I went to the opening to see his many oil paintings he had on display at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Nicosia.

Mrs Meral Eroğlu, our First Lady, had opened the exhibition with warm words of appreciation and thanks as the profit of his sales would go to the aid of the Turkish Cypriot Örthopaedic Association.  Feridun Işiman gave a short introduction to Hasan Daniş’s life and his work, obviously being very proud of him. There is a visible bond between student and teacher, and Hasan still goes asking his teacher for advice today, after he had left him to work in his own studio. Hasan is a prolific painter, mostly working in oil: portraits, landscapes and still lives. His strength is his proper and accurate brush work, his good feeling for colours and a love for working on details. You can see that Hasan loves what he is doing.

Hasan was born in 1941 in Cihangir (old name Epicho). Already as a child he was interested in fine arts. Having graduated from the English School in Nicosia he started his career as bank accountant from 1959 until 2002.  In those years he approached the artistic scene in publishing an idea and art magazine Uyari in 1960 and began a musical career as a lute player in the Fine Arts Society which he still does today. Only in 1995 he began working in oil and when he was encouraged by a professional artist to continue painting, he went to study sincerely with Feridun Işiman in his Art Studio 110 in Nicosia.

May he have still many years to roam the beautiful island with his easel and paint box and find a beautiful spot he feels like memorizing on canvas.

The exhibition at the Atatürk Centre in Lefkosa is open until Oct 26, daily from 09.00 - 13:00 and   14:00 - 18:00