Kate Boucher
Kate Boucher is an artist whose work explores landscape and memory through charcoal. She studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art and West Dean College. She is a QEST Scholar and the author of two books: Drawing with Charcoal and Making Charcoal: A Practical Guide for Artists.
Kate’s charcoal drawings often map and re‑map landscapes familiar to her, in a careful dialogue between the charcoal, the act of drawing, and her memories.
She wants the drawings to appear as if they’ve been built out of weather — layers of charcoal pressed, lifted, and smudged until the surface feels like something that has settled there over time. Edges hover or dissolve, so the image feels half‑seen, half‑remembered, shaped as much by returning to a place as by the moment of drawing itself.
She draws landscapes out of a kind of compulsion: a need to get something out of her head and onto the page so she can look at it directly and understand why it mattered. Each drawing is a way of asking what it is about a particular image or moment that pulls her back, and how, in the next drawing, she might get closer to the idea that sits behind it.
As a tutor, she is known for her instinctive, student‑centered approach, specialising in inclusive, responsive workshops that support and celebrate individual strengths.
“I use charcoal regularly in my work but learnt so much from Kate, and it is incredible to watch her demonstrate — she has absolute mastery over her medium. Clear instructions, great pace. It has transformed my appreciation for working in charcoal, and I have recommended her courses to so many people!”
Kate currently lives and works in North Wales.
Related Artists
