Over the last few weeks I have been transforming my outdoor studio into a small gallery space and hanging the newly created collection of ‘electrochemical paintings’.
A repurposed curtain rail enabled the artworks to be easily re-arranged and the addition of LED spotlights completed the transformation from studio to gallery.
If it happens to be too sunny or raining, there is a shade/umbrella for visitors waiting to go inside the studio gallery (1 in, 1 out).
“The name Redruth is said to be derived from the fact that by the 14th century the stream running along the bottom of Fore Street was so discoloured with iron oxide from tinning activities that it ran red. Hence Redruth, the Cornish for ford is Rhys and red is Ruth.” http://www.visitredruth.co.uk/History_of_Redruth_3146.aspx
“Located on the Great Flat Lode, a rich and accessible body of copper and tin ore, and just three miles from port of Portreath, Redruth was home to the full range of mining society. Walk along the residential areas to the south of the town centre, and you will be welcomed by the grand Victorian architecture which was home to mine owners and others who had profited from Cornish tin.” http://www.visitredruth.co.uk/About_Redruth_3116.aspx
“Redruth boomed because of mining in the area. In 1823 it was said that Redruth: ‘derives its whole importance from its central situation with respect to the mines’. However after 1866 the price of copper fell dramatically and copper mining went into decline.” http://www.localhistories.org/redruth.html
Copper and iron are essential elements in my work, and having recently moved to Cornwall, the possibility of finding raw copper minerals, became a quest!
What do they look like, what are they made of, where might I find some?
Some of the more beautiful copper minerals are collectors items:
Liroconite from
Wheal Gorland
The names of most Cornish mines are prefixed with Wheal, such as Wheal Jane, Wheal Butson, etc. its Cornish for a place of work.
Wheal Gorland
St Day United Mines (Poldice Mines), Gwennap area, Camborne - Redruth - St Day District.
Rashleigh began collecting around 1760 and his wealth, his contacts with local mine owners and captains and his acquaintance with other collectors, dealers and mineralogists in the UK and Europe ensured his substantial collection.
An intricate dendritic growth of copper crystals. Also known as native copper, the specimen is pure copper, uncombined with any other elements. Some of the best dendritic (branching) specimens came from the Gwennap mines and, although the locality for this specimen is unknown, it is probable that it came from one of these mines, perhaps Wheal Unity. Copper lodes are widespread in Cornwall and, as a result, copper was one of the most significant metals mined in Cornwall.
I began searching to see where and what I might find copper rocks or minerals. I tried a cave in St. Agnes, I looked around derelict engine houses and the spoils of the Wheals on the North Coast.
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body.
I found nothing, apart from some blue water at the bottom of cliffs, suggesting copper was around. The museum at St. Agnes happened to have a two Cornish copper mineral samples for sale, which I snapped up.
Chalcocite and Chalcopyrite
Later in my travels around the Great Flat Lode, in the structures of the old mining buildings, I found blue tinged rocks, indicating the presence of copper.
I found an interesting looking rock on a bike ride around Bassett Wheal on the Great Flat Lode, but then became rather worried after reading that the mined mineral Bassettite, was radioactive, containing uranium.
Bassettite, named in 1915 by Arthur Francis Hallimond after the Basset Mine group, Cornwall, England, UK, from which the mineral was first described.
Bassetite, an uncommon secondary mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of uranium-bearing hydrothermal mineral deposits is Radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. Greater than 70 Bq / gram.
To be safe when collecting rocks, I bought a portable Geiger counter and measured the rock I had found, it was safe at around 40 counts per minute.
Now I wanted to find a rock that was radioactive and went exploring around the Great Flat Lode. I found a rock in one of the old building structures that made the Geiger counter bleep alarmingly, it was picking up radiation over 100 counts per minute:
Radioactive rock – over 300 counts per minute
The rock itself looked unusual, standing out with a blue colouration, indicating copper, but without the meter I would not know it also contained uranium and was radioactive..
All found rock samples will be tested to ensure that they are safe and not radioactive.
…
Petri Dish Experiments
Electrochemical works are created using found local (non-radioactive) copper and ferrous minerals.
An early experimental work using Petri dishes demonstrates the emergence of blue/green – copper and red/orange – ferrous pigmentations from local minerals, illustrated below.
From Saturday 29 August to Sunday 6 September, more than 200 artists, designers and makers will be welcoming socially-distanced visitors into their studios in a celebration of artistic practice, with appropriate safety measures in place.
From Marazion to St Minver, St Ives to Saltash and Penzance to Penwithick, in leafy villages, seaside settlements and wooded valleys, painters, printmakers and potters; textile designers, sculptors and illustrators will guide you between granite gateposts, down gravelled driveways and along ancient footpaths – and to the Open Studios Cornwall website, enhanced with online studio tours and additional digital content by participants who are not able to throw open their doors, for reasons of limited space or personal vulnerability – to discover, discuss and purchase their work.
Curate your own art trail by following those distinctive orange ‘O’s across the Duchy’s creeks, coves and coastlines – or take the virtual route from the comfort of your own home – and support Cornwall’s creative community. Please check the website for the latest information about who is opening and when.
The Artifacts of DrB 