Creating art from ochre

We talk to artist Dr Onya McCausland about her unique collaboration with the Coal Authority, in which she uses residue from our mine water treatment schemes to create new pigments for paints.

Onya is a Leverhulme Early Career Researcher at Slade School of Fine Art in University College London.

Her PhD research, Turning Landscape Into Colour, revealed optical and aesthetic distinctions between ochre sludge from 5 of our sites across the former coalfields in Scotland, Lancashire and South Wales.

The Coal Authority designs, builds and operates 75 schemes to treat more than 122 billion litres of pumped water from former collieries each year – preventing 4,500 tonnes of iron solids from entering and polluting watercourses and drinking water aquifers.

To find out more about our mine water treatment schemes, go to: http://bit.ly/2l8maV3