When I’m drawing with charcoal I feel the most ‘me’ I can be.
For almost 20 years now I’ve been up to my elbows in Coates charcoal in my studio, creating artwork about trees using their perfectly carbonised wood. So, when I was recently invited to be a Coates charcoal ambassador, it felt like a perfectly aligned partnership for me.
When I visited their production site this summer, I was hugely impressed with the skill, care and decades of expertise that goes into making their artists’ charcoal. There’s some great images from that visit here.
Although we’re at different ends of this process, we connected quickly over our shared enthusiasm for charcoal and were curious about each other’s experience of it. Owner Nicola Coate even joined me for some sketching in the charcoal shed.
I also admired the way that the Coates team are constantly working to make this as sustainable and low impact a product as possible, with so much thought given to all aspects of production. They grow the willow right beside where it’s processed, carefully consider the ecology of the site and use renewable energy where possible.
It was really special to meet the actual people who grow and process the willow, then get back to my studio and be able to give those same sticks of charcoal another life in a new drawing.
As ambassador I’ll be sharing more in depth about how and why I use it and showcasing some of my favourite artworks from the last two decades. I’ll also soon have discount codes to share with my students and fellow artists.
I feel fortunate to have this opportunity to help spread the word about how good Coates artists’ charcoal is and I’m really looking forward to working more closely with the team over the coming months.
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