spoils : march ‘22
Spoils is a deep purple-red ochre with natural mica sparkles found along the Boyd River near Bath, England, at the now empty site of an abandoned ochre works that once took up part of the valley. The ochre was once used for industrial purposes, such as for making paint for iron bridges, to prevent rust (one iron oxide to prevent other iron oxidising…) Walking along the river one day, Nick came across this incredible colour deposit, which looked striking against the paws of Otto, his decidedly monochrome dog. Nick sent me photos, followed by a parcel of the ochre, but only a few days later it, and all the other contents of my studio, were lost in a fire in May 2021. The very first time I felt able to travel and see friends again that August, I took a train to dig this ochre with Nick, and then with Nina Cadzow to renew my stores of Dart yellow, red and pink from last year’s Ground Bright.
The Spoils: the remains, that which is incomplete, what the victor takes, what has been ruined, what is left, what will not last for ever.
Once this valley was a centre of polluting industrial processes, shipping colour internationally. Now it is an abandoned post-industrial wasteland, rather beautiful, full of wild bee hives, river walks, and crumbling hidden brick walls. Not a single part of England is pristine. Extraction as a method and goal was first mastered here, forced upon both land and people, before being exported worldwide at untold cost. This gorgeous ragged, bloody, shining colour is resplendent in ambiguity, paradox and saturation. Of all the UK’s colours, it is the one closest to my heart.
contributors: Caroline Ross & Nick Hunt
About Caro: Caroline Ross is an artist living and working in Bournemouth, England. She teaches wild materials and is writing a guide to making natural watercolour paints, which will be published in 2023 with Search Press. She forages and finds what she needs both in nature and from what people discard, with a particular emphasis on reusing so-called waste and esteeming that which is commonplace or overlooked. She is part of the Dark Mountain network and the Wilderness Art Collective. Her work can be seen in Dark Mountain books, in magazines, private collections, and soon in a group show with other Wild Pigment Project artists in USA. www.carolineross.co.uk on Instagram @foundandground
About Nick: Nick Hunt is a writer based in Bristol, England. He is the author of three travel books about walking in Europe: Outlandish, telling the story of Europe’s unlikely arctic tundra, primeval forest, desert and grassland steppe; Where the Wild Winds Are, which follows the pathways of four named winds across the continent; and Walking the Woods and the Water, about his 2,500-mile walk from Holland to Istanbul in the footsteps of Patrick Leigh Fermor. He is also the author of a work of gonzo ornithology, The Parakeeting of London. His first short story collection, Loss Soup and Other Stories, will be published in 2022. He is an editor and co-director of the Dark Mountain Project.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Ross.
Photo courtesy of Nick Hunt.
Photo from Grounded Community’s website.
22% donation recipient : Grounded Community
Grounded Community envisions a world where all urban communities have access to locally grown, nutritious food. Based in Boscombe, Bournemouth, UK, they work with members of their community to build an abundant, circular food system and a culture of storing, reusing and redistributing food surplus. Their projects focus on growing and sharing fruit and veg, teaching others how to grow their own food, redistributing food surplus from gardens and business, and connecting networks of people who store and share homegrown food. To donate directly, visit their website, groundedcommunity.co.uk.