Giant's Chair charcoal used by artists in Forest of Dean

People suffering from dementia in the Forest of Dean have used the charcoal as a drawing material for the first time

Charcoal produced from the burning of a huge wooden chair sculpture in the Forest of Dean has been used for the first time to produce art.

The 20ft (6m) tall Giant's Chair was dismantled and burnt last month after it became unstable.

Some of the oak timbers were turned into charcoal for use by the local community.

Members of the Mindspace group, who have dementia, were the first to use it as a drawing material.

Artist Onya McCausland said she was "astonished" by the quality of charcoal produced.

"Not only was there a lot of it produced, but it was really well charcoaled.

The artist's "original intention" was that the sculpture should only be in place for a year

"I couldn't believe how well it was drawing. It's deep, dense, charcoally black.

"It's really lovely that members of Mindspace were the ones to get to work with it first."

The chair was crafted out of local oak by Czech artist Magdalena Jetelova in 1986, who always intended for it to be turned into charcoal.

The artworks will be exhibited at the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail and at ArtSpace Cinderford next year.

A limited amount of the charcoal will be made available to the general public to create their own works.

The artworks will be exhibited locally next year