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.