https://turninglandscape.com Turning Landscape Wed, 12 Aug 2020 15:46:59 +0000 https://turninglandscape.com en https://turninglandscape.com/Turning-Landscape Wed, 15 Jul 2020 21:13:53 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Turning-Landscape Turning Landscape into Colour Turning Landscape into Colour is a research site and community exploring the material and social condition of landscapes impacted by the effects of industrial scale coal and metal mining. Much of the research focus is on the legacy of mining in South Wales, Scotland, the South West and North East of England. As mineral extraction is expanding in many parts of the world&nbsp; - serving the industries we call ‘sustainable’ -&nbsp; landscapes and communities are threatened by the depletion and pollution of natural resources they rely on to survive. The research in these pages shows some of the early stages of a long term ongoing investigation into the formation and life cycle of a material that signals the environmental catastrphy we are living in. __________________________________________________________________________________________________&nbsp; Where ever mines have been dug, water will find its way back into the chambers left by extrated ground. Over time, rain water seeps back down into the exposed hollowed out subterrainian landscape of former mines.&nbsp;This process has the combined significance of a geological, environmental and social event in time. One that defines and describes the industrial scale extraction and exploitation of mineral materials and people.&nbsp; Landscapes&nbsp;deformed and damaged by inducstrial scale extraction are exposed&nbsp;to an environmental catastrophy caused by the damage that that same extraction is doing to the climate.&nbsp; The water that enters these tunnels and chambers travels, collecting the dislodged and exposed mineral residues, the leftovers of the mining process as it washes through the ground. Eventually water reaches back to the surface,&nbsp; pouring into rivers, bringing those displaced minerals with it. Sometimes these can be very toxic: arsicnic, mercury, lead, iron, manganses, copper. Sometimes they are just the oxidised irons, but these suck the oxygen from the water as they arrive - leaving everything else without life.&nbsp; <img width="5184" height="3456" width_o="5184" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aaf9afb2d832f861b2822fc2a8d3c63477ecdb06688fbbb0c7dcc6ebc45f3a5d/2.opencast.jpg" data-mid="77505497" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aaf9afb2d832f861b2822fc2a8d3c63477ecdb06688fbbb0c7dcc6ebc45f3a5d/2.opencast.jpg" /> Photograph of Tower open cast coal mine 2015. Coal extraction at the Tower opencast site came to an end in 2017 after changes in environmental regulations. <img width="1224" height="1632" width_o="1224" height_o="1632" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a746f232e6b46d3e21abc71dc3a0954200a735b63f1b529c0326785643b114c/Sxbls-abertillery-minemap-2.jpg" data-mid="77507233" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a746f232e6b46d3e21abc71dc3a0954200a735b63f1b529c0326785643b114c/Sxbls-abertillery-minemap-2.jpg" />Six Bells and Abertillery showing underground mine workings overlaid with surface topography and infrastructure Historic mine map of Vivian pit Abertillery, the source of the pollution forming now at Six Bells. <img width="4618" height="3464" width_o="4618" height_o="3464" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9aa4b217958e4a4070ba8804fc692edc99723fe07da5d4ec2f2888f51d58e3a1/Six-BellsAbertillery.JPG" data-mid="77505601" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9aa4b217958e4a4070ba8804fc692edc99723fe07da5d4ec2f2888f51d58e3a1/Six-BellsAbertillery.JPG" /> Six Bells and Abertillery with the mine water treatment scheme just visible in the lower middle of the picture 2020. Overlaying the material effects of landscape are the cultural complexities that are woven so deeply into each landscape structure that they become inseparable; the geological, the social; the ecological and the economic. These pages consider how the complicated interdependencies between humans and the earth can be described through a single material. <img width="1620" height="1080" width_o="1620" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2995b22f882737a84e469f1a27bb91c40cb227986157512a43a93dfd97c7d20b/1.-Frances.JPG" data-mid="77503057" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2995b22f882737a84e469f1a27bb91c40cb227986157512a43a93dfd97c7d20b/1.-Frances.JPG" /> The coal mine ochre colours have a different life from ‘traditional’ or historic ochres. These new or geologically young minerals are brought into being through the treatment of polluting water in former coal mining landscapes across the UK. The conditions of each individual landscape influences the minerals forming there. The discovery of these qualities has happened through making artworks that follow five individual ochres from their geological landscape contexts through physical transition into usable pigments for paint. A process that simultaneously exposes layers of sociopolitical history, along with the contemporary cultural and economic connections to place. Ochre is the oldest of cultural materials with roots stretching back to the beginning of human history. The mine water ochres can be aligned with traditional historic ochre - a mineral that has been found sprinkled on cave floors, caked onto the buried bones of ancient humans;1 mixed with binder and turned into paint on cave walls, some 30,000 years ago and forming patterns on the built walls of early human settlements at Djade al- Mughara, Aleppo, Syria 11,000 years ago.2 The research has developed and been informed through a focused practice of painting and its traditions, referring to the earliest marks on cave walls, neolithic marks and the minimalist marks of the modernist / post modern traditions: Painting has been a line to follow and also to drift off from. Collaboration with chemists, earth scientists and paint manufacturers have helped to shape and understand the analytics of the material as pigment, from particle size, transparency and lightfastness, using x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cross polarised light microscopy, to drying, burning, grinding and sieving, scaling up, ratios of one medium to another to find a route to get a paint that carries the weight of the conditions of its formation, that can be applied to a wall. <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2245fd9560147be2d7b30d216737982f9a3c9f7b8885680763a2b802ce41ba39/Cuthill-Ferrihydrite-Digital-photograph-Cross-Polarised-Light-XPL-x1000--Field-of-view-0.1-mm..jpg" data-mid="77507549" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2245fd9560147be2d7b30d216737982f9a3c9f7b8885680763a2b802ce41ba39/Cuthill-Ferrihydrite-Digital-photograph-Cross-Polarised-Light-XPL-x1000--Field-of-view-0.1-mm..jpg" /> Cuthill ferrihydrite digital photograph using cross-polarised Light (XPL) x1000, field of view 0.1 mm. <img width="2560" height="1920" width_o="2560" height_o="1920" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e232a6fb13bb1be0eb2d8673b1013f6b68d3cb66777aa38d85a57c1a1a5aa837/electron-microscopy-Six-Bells.jpg" data-mid="77507723" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e232a6fb13bb1be0eb2d8673b1013f6b68d3cb66777aa38d85a57c1a1a5aa837/electron-microscopy-Six-Bells.jpg" /> Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Six Bells ochre Coal Authority Video In 2018 the Coal Authoity produced a short film oulining the processes involved in their mine remediation programme and ochre formation. The film shows the collaborative between Onya and the Coal Authority. Turning Landscape CIC Community Interest Comany was based Ty Ebbw Fach in the former mining village of Six Bells, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales between 2020 - 2023. The organisation continues now in a new form supporting workshops and talks about the formation of colour from the mines into usable pigment material, bringing together people with interest in the social, economic and environmental legacies of coal mining and extractive practices. The research was developed by Onya McCausland through Leverhulme research funding between 2018 - 2021. 1&nbsp; The Red Lady of Paviland: OUMNH Q.1. Visit to see the remains at Oxford Museum of Natural History 2016. One of the richest 1Palaeolithic sites in Europe is in South West Wales on the Gower Peninsula between Port Eynon and Rhossili. Sollas, W.J. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.43 (Jul. - Dec., 1913)&nbsp; 2&nbsp; &nbsp;National Geographic online: &nbsp;http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/photogalleries/wip-week50/photo7.html, accessed: 217th December 2014. And: Caroline Cartwright (2008) The World’s Oldest Wall Painting In Syria?, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 140:1, 3-3, DOI: 10.1179/003103208x288645 http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/003103208x288645 Published online: 02 Dec 2013 Turning Landscape into Colour Abstract, link to PhD: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10039744/ Further info on individual artworks www.onyamccausland.com https://turninglandscape.com/Six-Bells-Red Sun, 31 May 2020 11:16:41 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Six-Bells-Red Six Bells Red <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f3cf7db6f641c52e54e30b88b6c23dfca3108ebc643539c61e20d3a2ad60d5b0/A5EA7CAE-2C2E-440D-BBF1-D8BCD7F2C1F5_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="252299734" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f3cf7db6f641c52e54e30b88b6c23dfca3108ebc643539c61e20d3a2ad60d5b0/A5EA7CAE-2C2E-440D-BBF1-D8BCD7F2C1F5_1_102_o.jpeg" />We make water based wall emultion paint using pigment derived from the residues that form from polluting mine water as it oxidises. Each batch of paint is made on request. Please contact Onya McCausland if you wouldlike to discuss a project. <img width="1536" height="2048" width_o="1536" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f06b07cb4654d663be64d8401ce2919f927c99b1799f273e231908157a44293d/682FC6AE-79B9-4864-A141-16D6F287B60B_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="252299733" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f06b07cb4654d663be64d8401ce2919f927c99b1799f273e231908157a44293d/682FC6AE-79B9-4864-A141-16D6F287B60B_1_102_o.jpeg" /> The recipe for this paint is based on an environmentally responsible and susatinable&nbsp; natural potassium silicate base. <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aa91c4f341e9dbdf1329cb41f895c216563a36f73d5a4ee82a9fd9d7d539284b/5E37234C-C752-410B-BAF4-41A23A3AF35D_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="252299877" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aa91c4f341e9dbdf1329cb41f895c216563a36f73d5a4ee82a9fd9d7d539284b/5E37234C-C752-410B-BAF4-41A23A3AF35D_1_105_c.jpeg" />Aberbeeg Hospital project 2022/3. The wooden ecological outbuilding is stained with Six Bells Red bound in sunflower oil resin. The paint protectsand weather proofs the wood.&nbsp;<img width="1336" height="781" width_o="1336" height_o="781" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed0cb22cabdd401725d4849a46400a09536186c3ded72baa616f9c3c453cda81/Six-Bells-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5143-33.56-N-307-58.63-W-638m-copy.jpg" data-mid="92610365" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed0cb22cabdd401725d4849a46400a09536186c3ded72baa616f9c3c453cda81/Six-Bells-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5143-33.56-N-307-58.63-W-638m-copy.jpg" />Aerial photograph of Six Bells, Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales mine water treatment scheme showing the lakes of oxidising water pumped out of mines, and away from polluting the river. <img width="768" height="1024" width_o="768" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/97224d831810ef3eb2f91adad260ba2a64753e1ccd620ac22732c57a4d2f3687/29929D14-B5AD-466A-97AC-C5F06CA286A3_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="252299996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/768/i/97224d831810ef3eb2f91adad260ba2a64753e1ccd620ac22732c57a4d2f3687/29929D14-B5AD-466A-97AC-C5F06CA286A3_1_105_c.jpeg" />Iron oxide sludge residue from treated mine water at Six Bells<img width="4618" height="3464" width_o="4618" height_o="3464" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd4ffcde23b7ada653bbcc2a1419c9a8149a054e8ef6cdd239409093b8924c12/IMG_5728.JPG" data-mid="92610593" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd4ffcde23b7ada653bbcc2a1419c9a8149a054e8ef6cdd239409093b8924c12/IMG_5728.JPG" />The minewater treatment site viewed from Mynydd LlanhillethArchival material: On Friday 11th December 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic Turning Landscape made and launched the worlds first ever exterior grade wall paint made from mine water ochre. &nbsp;Six Bells Red is now made in the former mining village of Six Bells.&nbsp;Alongside the wall paint Michael Harding (paints) made a series of 1000 40 ml tubes of high quality artists oil paint;&nbsp;Six Bells Burnt Ochre. These are for sale on this website, or if you make the journy to Six Bells we will give you a tube. All proceeds from any sales we make are recycled back into the programme which supports local events, volunteers, production. If you run a public space, are a community group or project that would like to use either of these paints, you can apply to have some. Please email us. <img width="1641" height="2014" width_o="1641" height_o="2014" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd884242a66d148fe74ba52ff305d18377688dfef608c19e4903328cd050cd01/Six-Bells-Tin--Sm.jpeg" data-mid="92610366" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd884242a66d148fe74ba52ff305d18377688dfef608c19e4903328cd050cd01/Six-Bells-Tin--Sm.jpeg" /> IL tin exterior grade wall paint Six Bells Red 1st ed. 2020 The pigment to make Six Bells Red has been specially created by burning the raw ochre at a specific temperature to create the distinctive red colour.&nbsp;This ochre forms as a residue during the treatment of polluting mine water making this a completely sustainable source of colour pigment. 40ml tube of Six Bells Burnt Ochre&nbsp;artists’ oil paint 1st ed. 1000<img width="961" height="1253" width_o="961" height_o="1253" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5bbc0a2fb8785cdf024ce3406d7f1cdabb2a03a6cc0e0f238cefcc4856656302/2020_10_08_SIX_BSmllF.jpeg" data-mid="92610362" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/961/i/5bbc0a2fb8785cdf024ce3406d7f1cdabb2a03a6cc0e0f238cefcc4856656302/2020_10_08_SIX_BSmllF.jpeg" /> <img width="1048" height="797" width_o="1048" height_o="797" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/18cedb3bc4c468e7f4688f5be387b78ea1fa2ff45bf975990c8367926b7e6fbb/4F55F367-23D6-449A-AFD3-168D47EABF53_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="128627976" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/18cedb3bc4c468e7f4688f5be387b78ea1fa2ff45bf975990c8367926b7e6fbb/4F55F367-23D6-449A-AFD3-168D47EABF53_1_105_c.jpeg" /> This cast iron marker plaque 2020 has been installed at the mine water treatment site designating the site as the permenat source of this colour.. The map will be visible from the footpath at the far north end of the perimeter fence. Photos from the Launch Day..Launch Event and Plaque Unveiling December 11th 2020 @ noon The launch was held online with a physical presence at Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme in South Wales, seeing the unveiling of a new public artwork - a map cast in iron marking, naming, claiming the site of the ochres’ formation. <img width="1084" height="725" width_o="1084" height_o="725" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9e7fd85ad2eab6b12b6161f90ecc6e5fcffd01df9abeb3b5b7ea5390b066d9b/Alun_Davies.JPG" data-mid="92625810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9e7fd85ad2eab6b12b6161f90ecc6e5fcffd01df9abeb3b5b7ea5390b066d9b/Alun_Davies.JPG" />Alun Davies MS unveils the plaque at Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Works <img width="1052" height="789" width_o="1052" height_o="789" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52bc7e310a6715bca2031a915be77850df04069f9441e5b45dd907aeb4a2bb0a/Retired-mining-survayors-looking-over-the-maps.JPG" data-mid="92610364" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52bc7e310a6715bca2031a915be77850df04069f9441e5b45dd907aeb4a2bb0a/Retired-mining-survayors-looking-over-the-maps.JPG" />Dr Onya McCausland and former NCB surveyers and mine workers trace the route of minewater on vintage NCB plans in Jan 2020 <img width="5184" height="3888" width_o="5184" height_o="3888" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4a0b97a48de5ffc5726133f5c3e7ee2a89cdba26a1d75cd73c7499409207199/IMG_8708.JPG" data-mid="92610908" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4a0b97a48de5ffc5726133f5c3e7ee2a89cdba26a1d75cd73c7499409207199/IMG_8708.JPG" />A close up of the cast iron map the day after it was unveiled <img width="4000" height="3000" width_o="4000" height_o="3000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/14f20b07b10cefc47f5243f49310bee2a4e6a6de99ed20f856ba6949abed5a03/IMG_20201208_091218.jpg" data-mid="92611162" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/14f20b07b10cefc47f5243f49310bee2a4e6a6de99ed20f856ba6949abed5a03/IMG_20201208_091218.jpg" />The builders prepare to pour the concrete for the markers’s plinth <img width="5184" height="3888" width_o="5184" height_o="3888" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cca9152c7d4c67be7764d1bcbed567f735dacdccd799579c95c4a97ea359b428/IMG_8643.JPG" data-mid="92611151" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cca9152c7d4c67be7764d1bcbed567f735dacdccd799579c95c4a97ea359b428/IMG_8643.JPG" />Onya in front of the newly painted wall <img width="5184" height="3888" width_o="5184" height_o="3888" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1aecb4f511d11e749907b9ede53d031f22a4e6e4ef6c59e9498c26d9bcbc905f/IMG_8651.JPG" data-mid="92611152" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1aecb4f511d11e749907b9ede53d031f22a4e6e4ef6c59e9498c26d9bcbc905f/IMG_8651.JPG" />The wall in Ty Ebbw Fach that was painted live as part of the launch event on the 11 December 2020 <img width="1024" height="631" width_o="1024" height_o="631" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0427fef339d3be40b6b60bff03a0af9ba2004a49fc3556f47877197d69f5d2c4/IMG_20201210_105420_1-ANIMATION.gif" data-mid="92615396" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0427fef339d3be40b6b60bff03a0af9ba2004a49fc3556f47877197d69f5d2c4/IMG_20201210_105420_1-ANIMATION.gif" /> 4K Video of Plaque Taken 23 December 2020 Background to Colour from the Mines&nbsp; This project is led by artist Onya McCausland from UCL Slade School of Fine Art. Onya's practice develops an original and innovative approach to the role of the art object by making paint - including integrating its site of formation - as an artwork, in co-produced with manufacturers and members of the local ex-mining community. Paint in tubes and tins are considered as art objects and editioned for distribution and use by the public. Onya McCausland developed the idea of recycling the coal mine sludge into paint while travelling around the country collecting samples of ochre from mine sites across former British coalfields in South Wales, Scotland, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Further examples of Onya’s works can be found here:&nbsp; https://onyamccausland.com/ucl/ Six Bells is the first of five former coal mining sites around the UK that will take part in this project. The next one will be Saltburn near Middlesborough, followed by Cuthill West Lothian, Deerplay Hill in Lancashire, and finally back to South Wales Tan-y-Garn beside Ammanford. It has been generously supported by the UK Coal Authority. The project has been funded by the Leverhulme Trust, the Slade School of Fine Art and UCLInnovation &amp; Enterprise, with support from Michael Harding. <img width="5184" height="3456" width_o="5184" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/832aa217504aa727c98f10f4ea1b4a7c193927625bca852ab32475affa1bb80e/4.-The-Van-on-Site.jpg" data-mid="73032014" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/832aa217504aa727c98f10f4ea1b4a7c193927625bca852ab32475affa1bb80e/4.-The-Van-on-Site.jpg" /> <img width="5184" height="3456" width_o="5184" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b75bf7ecc18c03d4076db450c855bf776d8d975d3a667935f7b631de07942edf/5.--Processing-ochrestudio.jpg" data-mid="73032015" border="0" alt="Processing ochre" data-caption="Processing ochre" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b75bf7ecc18c03d4076db450c855bf776d8d975d3a667935f7b631de07942edf/5.--Processing-ochrestudio.jpg" /> <img width="1026" height="766" width_o="1026" height_o="766" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4bf2f1d830adb62a07f95a59ca3c21751f04435ab904fdaf808b65446c7e5edc/6.-W-N-.jpg" data-mid="73032016" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4bf2f1d830adb62a07f95a59ca3c21751f04435ab904fdaf808b65446c7e5edc/6.-W-N-.jpg" /> <img width="5184" height="3456" width_o="5184" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9fbe9f619d13946f4e0cdbd08c1c41df62f09bbf3681c57f5ff4b3f345a368fd/7.-Muller.jpg" data-mid="73032017" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9fbe9f619d13946f4e0cdbd08c1c41df62f09bbf3681c57f5ff4b3f345a368fd/7.-Muller.jpg" /> <img width="1026" height="766" width_o="1026" height_o="766" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d848d9c0cef007dca1be94dc39e828932d6941c3bc73bb75c1ece7a716a695ff/8.-.jpg" data-mid="73032018" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d848d9c0cef007dca1be94dc39e828932d6941c3bc73bb75c1ece7a716a695ff/8.-.jpg" /> <img width="3456" height="5184" width_o="3456" height_o="5184" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6132f8b7dc87b6f82a2e5f8dc9947b32d2a1d4409bc7886e3f4a84a97db2b9ff/9.-Six-Bells-in-Watercolour---Oil.JPG" data-mid="73032019" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6132f8b7dc87b6f82a2e5f8dc9947b32d2a1d4409bc7886e3f4a84a97db2b9ff/9.-Six-Bells-in-Watercolour---Oil.JPG" /> &nbsp; A Sustainable Pigment FactoryThe focus of the work has turned to five sites where ochre is in formation - Six Bells and Tan-y-Garn mine water treatment schemes in South Wales together with three others in Scotland, Lancashire and North Yorkshire. These sites will become the first-ever functioning industrial sites to be associated with, and named as a sustainable source of colour: an incidental pigment factory. The sites and their colour will be recognised and acknowledged as part of the cultural, social and industrial history of the UK.Water pumped from the flooding cavities of redundant coal mines inadvertently produces over 4000 tonnes of iron-oxide ‘ochre’ material as ‘waste’ ochre sludge every year. This largely untapped source of ochre presents an opportunity for the development of new earth pigment for use in paint that retains the identity of its material formation in the landscape. This is in contrast to currently available natural ochres from unsustainable unnamed sources across the globe. The lakes of colour in the ground are the Mine Water Treatment Schemes run and managed by the Coal Authority. They inadvertently perform the production of ochre waste as part of the clean-up of polluting ground water and contaminated land. The lakes signify an event occurring in the post-industrial, post-carbon landscape and are defined and highlighted here as performing a cultural act and recognised as artworks. Cultural MaterialsThe ochres are distinguished by the quality and indivudality of their colour that describes the particular conditions of their landscape context which are intricately linked to the history and legacy of the coal mining industry; to the hands that worked this industry. The use of the coal mine waste materials as pigment for paint recognises for the first time their position as part of the cultural landscape of the UK. Over the past year we have been developing the project in consultaion with the particpants from the &nbsp;community at Ty Ebbw Fach / Six Bells Regeneration to collectively explore the value and significance of the materials for the people whose experiences are shaped by the mining landscape and its legacies. Beginning in January 2020 a number of public events have taken place, starting with meeting retired coal mine surveyors and workers who talked about their knowledge and memories of the mines. This has been leading up towards the launch of the first ever mineral based wall emulsion paint and oil paint made in collaboration with two world class paint manufacturers local to the area. The ongoing programme of work is developed through close collaboration with the Coal Authority. Over the course of its evolution this work has had significant contributions from Dr. Ruth Siddall geologist and pigment analyst at UCL; Prof. David Dobson from the Department of Earth Science UCL, Jo Volley, Deputy Director (projects) Slade School of Fine Art and Spike Bucklow, Reader in Material Culture, University of Cambridge.&nbsp; TLiC is the research site of artist Onya McCausland. McCausland, O Turning Landscape into Colour 2017 For more updates on Colour from the Mines 2020&nbsp;please follow the project on social media:Website: https://onyamccausland.com/ Twitter: @turninglandInstagram: @onyawildermccausland, @onyamccausland https://turninglandscape.com/Ty-Ebbw-Fach Wed, 15 Apr 2020 11:07:54 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Ty-Ebbw-Fach Ty Ebbw Fach Ty Ebbw Fach was a former pub turned community centre in the village of Six Bells where this work first began. The people that lived nearby were involed in the early stages of developing projects and defining the aims and ambitions for the work. <img width="1017" height="763" width_o="1017" height_o="763" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/906197cfd4a6dad4911e734c42efca59a193862baba4739616325f93f14fdbfe/5.jpg" data-mid="74785971" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/906197cfd4a6dad4911e734c42efca59a193862baba4739616325f93f14fdbfe/5.jpg" /> Mining SurveyorsLocal miners and mine surveyors attended and talked about their experiences of the mines directly under us at Six Bells. They brought maps of the mine working and we discussed the infrastructure and daily working of the mines as they recalled it. <img width="1052" height="789" width_o="1052" height_o="789" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d07e502fc365f9be590682e2141f6bbe38c082f46d0161de2ce33316f5c73ca/8Miners-maps-Feb-2019.JPG" data-mid="74785970" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d07e502fc365f9be590682e2141f6bbe38c082f46d0161de2ce33316f5c73ca/8Miners-maps-Feb-2019.JPG" />Retired mine surveyors Robert, Kerry, Bernard and Ray Feburary 2020 <img width="592" height="789" width_o="592" height_o="789" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6978a311944744efecfbab68de49bcc3ba7f2ced099a58dc5677caac1d477797/9.-Talking-to-retired-mining-survers-at-Six-BellsTy-Ebbwfach-Feburary-2019.JPG" data-mid="74785972" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/592/i/6978a311944744efecfbab68de49bcc3ba7f2ced099a58dc5677caac1d477797/9.-Talking-to-retired-mining-survers-at-Six-BellsTy-Ebbwfach-Feburary-2019.JPG" /> The collaboration between Onya McCausland, the local community through Ty Ebbw Fach at Six Bells and the Coal Authority draws attention to mining heretage that proposes these colours as a new alternative legacy. Images of Six Bells Mine Water Treatment works: <img width="724" height="1086" width_o="724" height_o="1086" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3946c74ec3ac70d9ddb0e179887e11b61e7fd32dfa338100d4903bab0f66d22b/1..jpg" data-mid="74785969" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/724/i/3946c74ec3ac70d9ddb0e179887e11b61e7fd32dfa338100d4903bab0f66d22b/1..jpg" /> <img width="926" height="694" width_o="926" height_o="694" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e32ab1b25472cff738597b30d40da8b896debd3e5d02d41deb13622346c244d/2.JPG" data-mid="74785974" border="0" alt="Six Bells" data-caption="Six Bells" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/926/i/8e32ab1b25472cff738597b30d40da8b896debd3e5d02d41deb13622346c244d/2.JPG" /> <img width="926" height="694" width_o="926" height_o="694" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8446ef3ef029b33baca49ed911961587d102bd7a85436f2fa6db61dabdec6494/3.-The-view.JPG" data-mid="74785968" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/926/i/8446ef3ef029b33baca49ed911961587d102bd7a85436f2fa6db61dabdec6494/3.-The-view.JPG" /> <img width="1086" height="724" width_o="1086" height_o="724" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d566be629e5562e3788c9623e4ad00e1bba79414f6373de8eb0787e29e9780c4/4.jpg" data-mid="74785975" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d566be629e5562e3788c9623e4ad00e1bba79414f6373de8eb0787e29e9780c4/4.jpg" /> <img width="1052" height="789" width_o="1052" height_o="789" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b15bebaa72d60d10404c295899dcebf8a6a9d1b60097b37a53417853f199f77/6.JPG" data-mid="74785973" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b15bebaa72d60d10404c295899dcebf8a6a9d1b60097b37a53417853f199f77/6.JPG" /> <img width="592" height="789" width_o="592" height_o="789" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6978a311944744efecfbab68de49bcc3ba7f2ced099a58dc5677caac1d477797/9.-Talking-to-retired-mining-survers-at-Six-BellsTy-Ebbwfach-Feburary-2019.JPG" data-mid="74785972" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/592/i/6978a311944744efecfbab68de49bcc3ba7f2ced099a58dc5677caac1d477797/9.-Talking-to-retired-mining-survers-at-Six-BellsTy-Ebbwfach-Feburary-2019.JPG" /> https://turninglandscape.com/Watercolour Sat, 23 May 2020 21:09:16 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Watercolour &nbsp;Watercolour made from mine residues <img width="926" height="694" width_o="926" height_o="694" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d88cddbd74c4db95668218a243b937dfd760fd52f8737ebe178f04c836b55bff/brushes-watercolour.jpg" data-mid="72820032" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/926/i/d88cddbd74c4db95668218a243b937dfd760fd52f8737ebe178f04c836b55bff/brushes-watercolour.jpg" />In 2020 artist and printmaker Nichola Goff made 4 watercolour sets, each with 4 different pigments from the mines. Each set is made up of individual watercolour pans using pigment from Six Bells (raw and burnt ochre) Tan-y-Garn (Ammanford) ochre and Bideford black (Devon).&nbsp; &nbsp; The watercolours were first used during Covid-19 pandemic. Each set was sent out to people living in the Six Bells area so they could try out using the colours first hand. Nichola made the following video demonstrations of the process of mixing the paints and how they look and feel different to use. The final video gives some guidance for those using the watercolours. Along with the watercolour sets we posted paper, brushes and note books asking that people record their experience of using the pigments. The enthusiastic and moving response to this call out can be seen here: Facebook : Colour From The Mines :&nbsp;https://www.facebook.com/groups/ColourFromTheMines Six Bells Raw Ochre Six Bells Burnt Ochre Tan-y-Garn Raw Ochre Process Bideford (Coal) Black Demo:&nbsp;Watercolours sets demonstration Watercolour sketchbook <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/12e92bcf27c75fb1eb80001be8e0090d1e92fd16b5a5d224195d529c999ecc2e/Six-Bells-.jpg" data-mid="73030138" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/12e92bcf27c75fb1eb80001be8e0090d1e92fd16b5a5d224195d529c999ecc2e/Six-Bells-.jpg" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/33201bc89ebea87c93b8b79344935b0924a611fefdec4f4054e0b99f4523d882/IMG_5879.JPG" data-mid="73030131" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/33201bc89ebea87c93b8b79344935b0924a611fefdec4f4054e0b99f4523d882/IMG_5879.JPG" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a9a41abb4acb8a3fc7644efeffe0f47ccf31f18621bcbce1fde804689ff48b36/IMG_5881.JPG" data-mid="73030133" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a9a41abb4acb8a3fc7644efeffe0f47ccf31f18621bcbce1fde804689ff48b36/IMG_5881.JPG" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f59a9e7441e41507b3dfad63d321a84e2a2cd91697974d9d49f7f9c59b17c9b6/IMG_5884-copy.jpg" data-mid="73030134" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f59a9e7441e41507b3dfad63d321a84e2a2cd91697974d9d49f7f9c59b17c9b6/IMG_5884-copy.jpg" /><img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f21dde8eb9d822d846a313e3e5ce1a2c472d12ed9f1c5e843e25704e1b7469e7/IMG_5878.JPG" data-mid="73030130" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f21dde8eb9d822d846a313e3e5ce1a2c472d12ed9f1c5e843e25704e1b7469e7/IMG_5878.JPG" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9573885c85f12bee6118a80242abbc13b6c50346f10d73a6b4efa3d7e684b8bd/IMG_5886-copy.jpg" data-mid="73030136" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9573885c85f12bee6118a80242abbc13b6c50346f10d73a6b4efa3d7e684b8bd/IMG_5886-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cb1ebc0c6bc6e25d265535190ffb014edd086c8523c9c4393961aaf0de617f3c/IMG_5885-copy.jpg" data-mid="73030135" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cb1ebc0c6bc6e25d265535190ffb014edd086c8523c9c4393961aaf0de617f3c/IMG_5885-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/19fedfeba25b4639c1b5f549debcbda718df46a6e0e89dcfbce7211a94309ff0/IMG_5880.JPG" data-mid="73030132" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/19fedfeba25b4639c1b5f549debcbda718df46a6e0e89dcfbce7211a94309ff0/IMG_5880.JPG" /> https://turninglandscape.com/Coal-Authority-Video Tue, 04 Aug 2020 16:03:15 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Coal-Authority-Video Coal Authority Video https://turninglandscape.com/Aerial-Landscapes Sat, 25 Jul 2020 16:05:56 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Aerial-Landscapes Aerial Landscapes Visibility One of the striking things about the Mine Water Treatment Sites is their visibility, but not usually from the ground, as despite the intensity of the colours the sites themselves are usually hidden behind fences, off tracks, along relatively inaccessible stretches of land - but from above through Google Earth they are clearly discernible, sometimes from many kilometres ‘up’. I have found the sites on Google Maps on my iphone, if the site can’t be found by its nearest post code, then I pull over to zoom out and up to see where I am, and where the site is. &nbsp; <img width="2791" height="1590" width_o="2791" height_o="1590" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5674242923d220bb5be7715c4bee1dc8ef918bfd92fae3f10f64f0e396c70cf/Cuthill-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5550-59.82-N-336-34.65-W-513m_1.jpg" data-mid="78324342" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a5674242923d220bb5be7715c4bee1dc8ef918bfd92fae3f10f64f0e396c70cf/Cuthill-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5550-59.82-N-336-34.65-W-513m_1.jpg" />Cuthill 55°50 59.82 N 3°36 34.65 W 513m <img width="4519" height="2647" width_o="4519" height_o="2647" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5da50503269fe5f7b7f4fec66e2d6780fcd9aaf94a189b154dd4a231344692f/Saltburn-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5434-07.37-N-057-42.87-W-1130m_360.jpg" data-mid="78324344" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5da50503269fe5f7b7f4fec66e2d6780fcd9aaf94a189b154dd4a231344692f/Saltburn-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5434-07.37-N-057-42.87-W-1130m_360.jpg" /> Saltburn 54°34 07.37 N 0°57 42.87 W 1130m <img width="3814" height="2228" width_o="3814" height_o="2228" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54489ad3012d7e0a2bbdaa55cfee88482e5fd8725c0e7dc99d2bbb86618a187b/Deerplay-Hill-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5344-07.95--N-212-10.84-W.-1460m.jpg" data-mid="78324343" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54489ad3012d7e0a2bbdaa55cfee88482e5fd8725c0e7dc99d2bbb86618a187b/Deerplay-Hill-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5344-07.95--N-212-10.84-W.-1460m.jpg" />Deerplay Hill 53°44 07.95&nbsp; N 2°12 10.84 W. 1460m <img width="3307" height="1932" width_o="3307" height_o="1932" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f6b05c9ea0349dd02adeef76c85f1f66008e29e28d514174a81267239c14a290/Six-Bells-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5143-33.56-N-307-58.63-W-638m.jpg" data-mid="78324345" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f6b05c9ea0349dd02adeef76c85f1f66008e29e28d514174a81267239c14a290/Six-Bells-Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-5143-33.56-N-307-58.63-W-638m.jpg" />Six Bells 51°43 33.56 N 3°07 58.63 W 638m <img width="3554" height="2076" width_o="3554" height_o="2076" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ae077ef4e2ad7f1e41152db59f23879c36c21b00a4871c3f1fe71387ae06f2c/Tan-y-Garn--Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-51-46-10.01-N-3-59-05.93-W-418m.jpeg" data-mid="78324346" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ae077ef4e2ad7f1e41152db59f23879c36c21b00a4871c3f1fe71387ae06f2c/Tan-y-Garn--Mine-Water-Treatment-Scheme-51-46-10.01-N-3-59-05.93-W-418m.jpeg" />Tan-y-Garn 51° 46 10.01 N 3° 59 05.93 W 418m Vanishing Point The satellite images of the earth that have helped construct these journeys have become part of the imagination of these landscapes. Seeing; finding the site from above and arriving on the ground by van, walking and digging out buckets of ochre sludge from the settling lagoons: Perception of these colours/places is partly shaped by Google Earth - I see the colour through the satellite’s eye. How to separate these different images; from above, from the ground and from underground.&nbsp; LinkFlat Time House (FTHo) website:&nbsp;http://flattimeho.org.uk/events/aerial-landscapes/ https://turninglandscape.com/Mine-Pollution-and-Treatment Sat, 25 Jul 2020 16:29:28 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Mine-Pollution-and-Treatment Mine Water Pollution and Treatment<img width="964" height="1444" width_o="964" height_o="1444" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6013b4bf4fdd307c22624c7c3bc726edeb46674bc0f26a86ef23aea989275798/pump1.png" data-mid="78325221" border="0" data-scale="65" alt="Water Pump, Six Bells" data-caption="Water Pump, Six Bells" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/964/i/6013b4bf4fdd307c22624c7c3bc726edeb46674bc0f26a86ef23aea989275798/pump1.png" /> Water pump, Six BellsIn 2001 a borehole was driven 216m down into the old mine workings at Vivian shaft, Six Bells where an underground roadway had been backfilled in 1962.1 From this borehole polluted water is now pumped out of the mine before it reaches the river preventing the water from being polluted with raw mine water. Six Bells is an ‘active’ treatment site, hydrogen peroxide is added to the pumped mine water. Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, is a relatively unstable compound, its desire is to become water, which it does by readily letting go of its second oxygen atom to whatever will take it. Iron takes up oxygen so an exchange takes place and the iron is exposed to greater concentrations of oxygen than by aeration alone, speeding the oxidising process. The polluted water, pumped directly from the mine is first mixed with the hydrogen peroxide and then pumped out through a channel up to the top of a three metre high fibreglass cascade further increasing exposure to oxygen in the air. <img width="5000" height="3333" width_o="5000" height_o="3333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1969fedc467edbc2b9ad98fdb8bedb936ef301833c5d43c389b96772217ffabb/Cascades_o.jpg" data-mid="79102752" border="0" alt="Cascades, Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme" data-caption="Cascades, Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1969fedc467edbc2b9ad98fdb8bedb936ef301833c5d43c389b96772217ffabb/Cascades_o.jpg" /> Cascades, Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme The water travels down the aerating cascades into two parallel deep lagoons measuring 1540m2 each where the water and newly oxidised pigment particles settle. The mine water treatment process is concluded by passing the water with its residual load of suspended iron particles through an artificial reed bed. When the pumping started in January 2002 the acidic mine water contained 250mg of iron per litre of water. After a period of four months the iron concentration in the water had stabilised to 50mg per litre of water.2 By the time the water flows into the river the iron content has reduced down to less than 1mg per litre of water, which is the environmental quality standard for discharge to surface waters. For 15 years the polluted mine water has been continually pumped from these underground workings 24hr an day, at a rate of 40 litres per sec.3 Coal Authority - Understanding Mine Water Treatment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/362236/Understanding_mine_water_treatment.pdf &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 Jennifer Geroni, Rates and mechanisms of chemical processes affecting the treatment of ferruginous mine water, Master’s thesis, Cardiff University (Cardiff: Cardiff University, 2011), 61-72&nbsp; Coal Authority, Environment schemes, Available at: http://coal.decc.gov.uk/en/coal/cms/environment/schemes/schemes.aspx (Accessed: 20th September 2013)&gt; 3 Jennifer Geroni, Rates and mechanisms of chemical processes affecting the treatment of ferruginous mine water, Master’s thesis, Cardiff University (Cardiff: Cardiff University, 2011), 61-7 https://turninglandscape.com/Mine-Water-Red-Earth-Falling Wed, 12 Aug 2020 15:46:59 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Mine-Water-Red-Earth-Falling Red Earth Falling Red Earth Falling 13min duration digital video 2014 The oceans of ice and silicate that formed in the Earth’s first billion years contained green iron dissolved in solution, silicate rocks and melt undergoing processes of subduction and eruption, pleating and folding the forming earth. Then bacteria learned to use the sun’s energy and absorb carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen into the green iron oceans - iron sucks up oxygen - and a miraculous transformation was triggered, turning the iron-rich oceans from green ferrous iron (Fe2+) into RED ferric iron (Fe3+), from soluble to insoluble, liquid into particle. Bacteria and sunlight combined and particles of red iron develop. The early forming Earth turned from green to red. The heavy sinking now particulate iron is drawn down towards the centre of the still forming earth, weighted, drawn to the core. Settling on ancient ocean floors intermittent layers of magnetite/ silicate/ haematite/ silicate/ magnatite layering the Banded Iron Formations, a slow geological formation, now mined for steel - iron is intimately bound up with the history of human evolutionary cultural practices and technological developments. Siderite (iron carbonate FeCO3) and pyrite (iron sulphide FeS2) minerals are set&nbsp; free from the exposed rock surface of abandoned coal mines - the act of mining increases the surface area of the rock and introduces oxygen. The iron rich solution streams through the empty passages, transported in the water courses and caverns underground, developing just like the early earth forming irons from green to red as they oxidise on contact with oxygen in the air - these young iron oxides mimic those early ancient earth forming processes as particles settle in river beds and lakes where they form deposits of hydrated ferric oxides. https://turninglandscape.com/Underview Sat, 25 Jul 2020 16:36:41 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Underview Under View Mine Walk Clearwell Cave Mine Trip led by Jonathan Wright https://turninglandscape.com/Six-Bells Fri, 23 Mar 2018 13:52:06 +0000 Turning Landscape https://turninglandscape.com/Six-Bells Six Bells, South Wales <img width="2682" height="1616" width_o="2682" height_o="1616" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/06089d3fd79bbe011e2bc0088cc7f1a6d5dd495ddb922ec83ef3e4261e421d6c/Six-Bellscomp.jpg" data-mid="72121175" border="0" alt="Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme, from Google Earth" data-caption="Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme, from Google Earth" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/06089d3fd79bbe011e2bc0088cc7f1a6d5dd495ddb922ec83ef3e4261e421d6c/Six-Bellscomp.jpg" /> <img width="5000" height="3333" width_o="5000" height_o="3333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae988e3ff7bfc7d3370c7dff3dedb3ffb98e01f01f96511b090a7552b927e71c/MWTS_o.jpg" data-mid="72121169" border="0" alt="Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme, 2016" data-caption="Six Bells Mine Water Treatment Scheme, 2016" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae988e3ff7bfc7d3370c7dff3dedb3ffb98e01f01f96511b090a7552b927e71c/MWTS_o.jpg" /> <img width="5000" height="3333" width_o="5000" height_o="3333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1969fedc467edbc2b9ad98fdb8bedb936ef301833c5d43c389b96772217ffabb/Cascades_o.jpg" data-mid="72121170" border="0" alt="Cascades" data-caption="Cascades" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1969fedc467edbc2b9ad98fdb8bedb936ef301833c5d43c389b96772217ffabb/Cascades_o.jpg" /> <img width="5000" height="3333" width_o="5000" height_o="3333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/876cf74edfeee6a435a287132fdaacc916b7557ea715fb4cead3f1420bf7fcf2/Dry-Bed_o.jpg" data-mid="72121171" border="0" alt="Drying Beds" data-caption="Drying Beds" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/876cf74edfeee6a435a287132fdaacc916b7557ea715fb4cead3f1420bf7fcf2/Dry-Bed_o.jpg" /> <img width="5000" height="3735" width_o="5000" height_o="3735" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/96fe7a30880284c90a79be0fe9b98d803e08abb7b5ebf52429b3639b56ef51a0/washing-ochre_o.jpg" data-mid="72121172" border="0" alt="Washing ochre" data-caption="Washing ochre" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/96fe7a30880284c90a79be0fe9b98d803e08abb7b5ebf52429b3639b56ef51a0/washing-ochre_o.jpg" /> <img width="5000" height="3631" width_o="5000" height_o="3631" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/94a18a0be71112a4f719b46865a2fe8c793ec918825c0e9ece52fcd1a93ce4b1/Goethite_o.jpg" data-mid="72121173" border="0" data-caption="Goethite, Digital Photograph Cross-Polarised Light (XPL) x1000, Field of view 0.1 mm&lt;br /&gt; " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/94a18a0be71112a4f719b46865a2fe8c793ec918825c0e9ece52fcd1a93ce4b1/Goethite_o.jpg" /> <img width="2979" height="4000" width_o="2979" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/28d1f6fe56ee02860e3b05262cf34db384fb1a8bddadb25312645de12cf17f99/Watercolour_SixBells.jpg" data-mid="72121174" border="0" alt="Six Bells watercolour test" data-caption="Six Bells watercolour test" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/28d1f6fe56ee02860e3b05262cf34db384fb1a8bddadb25312645de12cf17f99/Watercolour_SixBells.jpg" /> The transparency of Six Bells is unusual for a ‘natural’ ochre. The nearest equivalent colour would be ‘raw sienna’. The last batches of genuine raw sienna came from the lower slopes of Monte Amiata to the south of the city of Siena. The relatively high optical transparency of Six Bells place it somewhere between a natural and a synthetic colour. The mineralisation process is different from natural ochre which occurs much more slowly. The mine ochres form when pyrite minerals are unlocked from their natural rock setting through the action of mining. As the mines flood, water picks up the released minerals in solution and transports them to the surface where they oxidise into the insoluble ferric form on contact with the air and the hydrated iron oxides start to precipitate forming particles of ochre. Six Bells is located in the Ebbw Fach valley, an area that was once the centre of coal mining in South Wales until the last mines closed here in the 1980’s. The water levels now flooding the mines rise and fall with weather conditions, and climatic variations, but the water will keep flushing through picking up mineral residue along the way. The legacy of the coal industry necessitates an environmental programme of mine water treatment that will go on for decades, or hundreds of years – inadvertently and unavoidably turning the landscape into an iron oxide or ‘ochre’ pigment production site of industrial proportions.