Violet Bond for Achetez de l'Art, PARIS: She was a charcoal drawing

It took me a long time to realise that I was a charcoal drawing—not a marble sculpture, not an oil painting trimmed in gold, but a creation of marks and dust.
Charcoal is nothing more than the burnt souls of trees, trees that embody the very essence of the earth's carbon, and here they are cremated in all their glory.
I cherish the disorder of it all, the absence of pretentiousness, the honesty in the raw beauty of charcoal's mark-making.
If I had to choose an image to present to God at the end of my life to explain who I am, this would be my choice: a woman at peace with the oncoming fire, bathed in the warmth of the afternoon sun, with dust on her skin. At home.

A self portrait created on Dalabon country in the Northern Territory, Australia. I pay my respect to the Traditional Owners of the land and their Elders, past, present and emerging.