Branching Out: new charcoal drawings take shape
- chriswoodcock32
- Mar 19
- 2 min read
For Spring 2026, we’re continuing our mini-series of artists' First Impressions with these superb new charcoal drawings by Wendy Rhodes, inspired by the ancient pathways near her South Cotswold home.
Here are some images of the first three, plus a very enjoyable time lapse video of Wendy creating them - scroll down to view it.
Each drawing takes around a week to create and carries its own power, boldness and strength coming through in the marks, the shadow patterns and the stances of the tree trunks and their branches.
Wendy’s observational details stir an empathy in us - she imbues the trees with personality and treats each one as an individual, worthy of our admiration and respect.
Describing the drawings, Wendy says: “I think of these raggedy trees as ‘The Survivors’. They were the ones left in the lane after some much bigger trees were taken out from behind them. Straggly and misshapen but standing firm.”
This trio (‘Survivors’, ‘Expectation’ and ‘Anticipation’) forms the launch pad to a planned new series of charcoal drawings called ‘Gift’: “Sunlight has seemed a rare gift this winter, and bright days are always a gift when we can make use of them. The sunlight gifts us an enlightened view of a lane or path... as artist Laurie Steen said: '...specifically how light shapes us and gets through the shadows'.
"There’s also the anticipation that turning the corner will provide a gift in some small way - a gift of a view or the gift of an interesting piece of path or lane to walk, the curiosity of what lies beyond the turn."
All drawings are A1, 59.4 x 84 cm, on Snowdon Cartridge 130 gsm. They are unframed and on mount board, or can be rolled and packaged for easy postage or shipping
Here's the website link if you would like to know more: https://www.spencerhousegallery.co.uk/product-page/the-gift-new-charcoal-drawings
They're available from now and at our Whitsun Pride of Place show https://www.spencerhousegallery.co.uk/events-exhibitions
Really enjoyed reading this update about the new charcoal drawings taking shape at Spencer House Gallery because it’s always fascinating to see artists exploring the raw, expressive potential of charcoal as a medium, and it sounds like the work on show captures a lot of that immediacy and energy that makes drawing such a powerful form of artistic expression. Charcoal has such a long history in art, from early 20th-century explorations in abstraction by artists like Georgia O’Keeffe to the detailed portrait studies of Sir Stanley Spencer, and it’s great to see contemporary work that feels connected to that lineage while also bringing something fresh to the table . The post really makes me want to visit in person to…