Wild and windy weather...

I've missed not going to Geevor for a couple of weeks, so I'd planned the trip today whatever the Cornish weather decided to throw at us. Unfortunately, I'd planned to make a detailed study of the pithead, but as this can't be seen clearly unless outside was forced to think about other (indoor) areas.

Having started to study tone in drawing, I worked solely today with a range of 4-8B pencils in my sketchbook, deliberately trying to describe what I drew using tone values rather than line. I found that working indoors while the wild squalls rattled the roof made me more inclined to spend longer on each piece- with one exception-and I came away with a satisfying six pages filled.

As we'd arrived early I decided to head into the Dry first, so I could work uninterrupted before many visitors arrived. On my previous visit I'd tried to take some photographs of the lockers, but the very bright window in the background confused the camera and the results weren't good enough for reference. The study above took me about 45 minutes, the hardest part being the shape of the boots- this side of the room is relatively dark and the boots are defined mostly by the shadows made by the moulded ridges on them. I found I had to concentrate on negative spaces to get the whole to come together correctly.

After a quick pit-stop for coffee I dived into the sample hut to make some more studies of the pots and paraphanalia on the shelves. Since my last visit the hut had been tidied up and the pots were mostly in regimented rows, but I did a couple of studies nonetheless.

The fuse box above is the one connected to the ball mill, a fantatic device which tumbles mini cannon balls with tin ore to pulverize it further (imagine a giant gemstone tumbler). This corner is really dark so I wanted to capture the shapes of the various components as I find them great jumping-off points for abstraction (see also my earlier post of the pit-head fuse box).

This partial sketch was because I found the overlapping circles full of energy, but despite trying to define some construction outlines the sloping angles of the cogs threw me out- as you can see I misjudged the lower intersection and placement of the furthest wheel by rather a lot!

The cogs are made of wood and are actually mould formers, they were pressed into sand or clay to form the mould where the metal was cast into. They had to be made larger than the finished piece to allow for the contraction of the cooled metal, no mean feat when many of the carpenters of earlier times had little more than rudimentary numbering skills!

 It was not the easiest to see as you are looking between some foreground objects - another cog on one side and a combination vice/anvil type workstand on the other- which can be distracting. I'm fairly sure I have a photo from an earlier trip, probably not a good exposure,  but may find that the items in front obscure the cogs.

Another pair of formers, this time of a gear sprocket and a half section of a bore thread. I loved the shape of the gear but just failed horribly on the angles, a more technical contruction approach needed I think! The screw thread is a beautiful work of art in its own right, made of finely carved and smoothed wood.

For my final drawing I went to the drill store, where a row of stoping drills are stood along one wall. I particualrly liked the shapes made by the spring lever, especially when seen from different angles. I probably spent about 40 minutes on this, long enough for my husband to go and watch the entire documentary film in the adjacent Hard Rock Museum!

It occurred to me while I was working on this that I was probably better able to see the tones and shapes because the object was somewhat alien to me, so I see it only as pattern and shape. To clarify- I mean that if I had gone in the workshop at home and drawn the bandsaw, or an electric drill, I would have responded differently to them because I know what they do, what it feels like to use them, and what their component parts look like if stripped down for maintenance. I would have probably made assumptions about what they "should" have looked like on paper as a result, and then wondered why they hadn't come out right! With the stoping drill, although I know how it's used, (to bore holes for blasting) I'm not being so subjective when I look at it. Maybe I can develop this into a "once-removed" technique when drawing more familiar objects!

Possibly this theory could underlie my fascination with Geevor, as it gives me so many images of new things to record in an impersonal way which I can then develop and abstract at leisure.

I shall meditate further. Meanwhile, I need to get this pithead drawn- I can see potential for a landscape inspired by Patrick Caulfield's fantastic lithographs...

Bits, pieces and thinking...

I've been doing a lot of thinking about where this project is actually headed, but in the meantime thought I would share these details of the area with you. They were sketches of details in the landscape taken on an earlier visit to Levant Mine which is immediately next door to Geevor. Partly these will figure in a landscape painting I am working on, but I am still considering which elements will be added to the final version.

Thinking is as far as I get while at work (the rigorous rules in a food-production environment make using a sketchbook while on duty (under a surveillance camera) a one-way ticket to not having a job! However, thinking is free (at the moment) so I have had plenty of opportunity to consider where this mining project is going.

It is evident that the people - the miners - are going to play a major role in it, and as I originally envisaged this as a visual arts project I am still not sure whether I want this to expand into personal histories or how to contain personal memories within my own discovered images. I also find myself wanting to branch out into poetry or prose to define an impression in words instead of images, but I am wary as this path can lead to arabesques of self-important wordcraft and lose the original intention. And my intention is, at present, still nebulous but based on producing imagery to explore the historical Cornish mining environment, and to ultimately link it to its co-existent partnership with Welsh coal-mining and ore processing.

Both industries have died in my lifetime, but have been re-kindled through tourism, and that is how I have discovered both. I am the voyeur looking in with little comprehension, and I need to scratch deeper to get at the meaning.

Background picture

I was asked by a friend what the picture was which I use for the background of this blog, so I thought I would share the whole image. I cropped it in order to draw attention to the faces.

There is a long passsageway which leads from the "Dry" (the locker and shower room) to the pit-head lift which used to take the miners underground. The Dry itself is a very nostalgic place to be, especially if there are no other visitors present, and there are many lockers left as they were when the mine closed. You truly then get a sense of the lives that were lived in what was then a very closed community, both from geographical isolation and from a lack of comprehension from the outside world.

The passageway and the area just around the corner which was used to wash mining grime from boots are lined by photographs of the men who worked here in the last days of Geevor. Some of these men still work here now as guides. As I walked down the passageway I thought to turn round, and it seemed fitting to record this image of  "looking back", figuratively as well as literally.

As the whole building is stained with red dust from the prolific iron ochres in the earth, it seemed an appropriate image to use for the blog. Many red hues are also derived from tin compounds, although (listen up, factet coming up!) cassiterite (tin ore) , if scratched on an unglazed clay surface, produces a white line due to the presence of tin, despite being blackish to graphite coloured. Which is where the Cornish flag derives from- white tin (often called white metal) crosses black earth (the native cassiterite). Cool eh?

ps I've just randomly remembered that the periodic symbol for tin is Sn (Stannate) which obviously has nothing in common with cassiterite- will research and get back to you on that one, especially as there seems to be some confusion in the Cornish language between tin and donkeys...more on that on later...

Fusebox in charcoal

Although I haven't been to Geevor this week, I wanted to work on a larger charcoal piece to try and get better defined shapes, and practise precision when using this very loose medium. I chose this photograph which was very dark, but I like the strong square shapes in it. This fuse box and switches is in a building immediately adjacent to the man-lift housed in Victory Shaft.

I toned the paper all over initially before building up layers of dark tone to define the shapes. Finally I lifted some highlights out with a plastic eraser.

My original intention was to abstract these shapes into a painting, but the more I look at it I think it would be interesting to attempt a cut-paper drawing (effectively a collage). Still musing...

Inside the mill and other sketches

I arrived at Geevor in blistering sunshine to find it almost deserted, as it happened to be Golowan Festival in nearby Penzance. Grabbing my hard hat I headed straight for the mill, as areas here can be retrictive if other people are touring the building.
Down the first flight of stairs is an open area once used for the grinding and separating processes. I pulled out a sketchbook and graphite stick and got busy.

Above my head was an immense concrete structure which was an earlier settlement tank. Its difficult perspective offered a challenge of ellipses and angles. (You try holding a sketchbook up and craning your neck!)

My efforts were interrupted by the arrival of one of the miners who now work as tour guides on the site- in fact, there are only two people here who have not worked underground at Geevor. We began talking about why I was drawing and I explained that although at present I knew very little about mining I wanted to collate images to work them up into a series of pictures at a future date. He began to explain what the various machines did and spoke a little about his time underground; he was a stoper, the man who drills the holes and blasts into the lode to extract the ore.

After he left to talk to some visitors I walked down to the next level to where the shaking tables begin. These were used to separate the tin ore grains from the other particles and are fitted with robust springs on their edges.

I used a carbon pencil for this as I wanted to try to capture the grainy surface now largely devoid of grease. It is unfinished as I realised how late it was, and went to find a belated lunch.

My last two sketches were both related to the tin stamps, which crush the ore to a manageable size. The lower one was drawn from the cafe window looking down at the watermill and adjacent stamp. Having looked at this on the way up the hill, I  realised that the pipe-shaped piece in the previous drawing was the axle core for a stamp, and the lugs or teeth which raised the hammers would have been fitted into the holes.

Due to other demands I may not be visiting Geevor for a couple of weeks, but I have some reference photos which I want to work up some colour studies from so I will share these soon.

Geevor Mining Museum

Over the last six months I have been increasingly exposed to, and interested in, the mining landscapes of both Cornwall and Wales. Recently I finally visited Geevor Mining Museum at Pendeen, which has become the focal museum for the World Heritage mining landscape in West Cornwall.
On my first visit, I admit, I lugged around drawing equipment and actually only used my camera in what turned into a full day without seeing everything (For a relatively small location there is a LOT to see). The following week I returned determined to complete at least 4 sketches, as the diversity of subject material is breathtaking, from clifftop ruins to dusty panning mill, to shiny mechanics and interesting geological rocks.
Above is my first location, drawn in the compressor room with a Conte pocket pack supplemented by a few hard pastel pencils using Ingres pastel paper. On reflection I think I should have gone for a detailed line drawing in either pencil or pen, as my ellipses at either end are rather wonky, although I was pleased with the blending on the pipes and especially the handles as I have always found pastel a rather difficult medium. During my first visit I did take a picture of these pipes from a similar angle, although the sketch was done sitting on the floor and probably a lower angle. I am determined to have another attempt at these wonderfully structural shapes when I go back another time.



My second sketch was of these interestingly shaped crucibles and sample jars in the hut where the assays used to be done. I used a charcoal base on a cheap, slightly rough-surfaced sketch pad and lifted the highlights out with a plastic eraser. Many years ago (at school) I wasn't particularly fond of charcoal as I didn't seem to be able to control it, but having done a workshop last Easter I now value it's looseness and ability to create almost instant drama through tone.
In my painting experience I have found I achieve better tonal balance working on a dark surface with lighter shades, and I think this is the drawing equivalent as it can be erased or added to at will. The messy aspect of travelling with the medium has now been solved by including a travel-size hairspray in my sketching pack. At some point this will become a painting, although there are some interesting corners elsewhere in the hut which could add to an overall composition.



This is a quick sketch in charcoal done while we (myself and husband) rested our legs. I was initially attracted to the very definite cracks in the chimney pots above the forge in the sample hut, but it grew to encompass the structural shape of the Victory Shaft winding mechanism. Once again I realised the headgear really needed a more detailed treatment as a line drawing to make the most of its structure: it has been put on the "to-do" list for a future visit.

For my final sketch, I went to the lower end of the site which overlooks Levant Mine next door, in fact the two sites overlap and are the reason that both mines are now flooded when they inadvertantly met up! I had already done some work at Levant and needed other elements to complete a landscape painting, and liked the ruined remains of the old calciner buildings perched on the cliff edge. (Strangely, both my husband and myself found them uncannily remeniscent of ruins we had seen in Tunisia some years ago)
By this time it was raining and the site is exposed. I switched to a graphite stick to counteract the raindrops but it still skidded a few times. I got most of the elements I needed but still need to do a little more research to make the painting elements come together.
Geevor is a site which I strongly feel I need to develop a series of ideas and images around. I will be returning on a regular basis over the next few months to explore its environment. Currently there is a large amount of attention focussed on the Camborne area as the Heartlands project comes together, and I will also be investigating that, and possibly tying together strands of the different mining areas in my end of Cornwall. I can't help feeling that this is going to turn into a major project taking several years to actualise.
As for Wales, I shall be returning there in the autumn, and plan to draw together elements of the coal mining industry which both contrast and complement that of tin, as the two areas are irretrievably linked.