A MINIONS ELEGY: KING EDWARD MINE, BODMIN MOORE

In July 2009 I was commissioned by the Stuart House Museum in Liskeard to make a painting of the old King Edward Mine high up on Bodmin Moor. This painting in ink, acrylic and PVA on paper was the result. In 2019 I was asked by Cornish author Simon Parker if he could use the image of the painting for the front cover art work for his moving novella ‘Even the Mist Smells Sweet’ as he felt it captured the essence of the book. I agreed immediately. Set in Gonamena it tells the story of Cornish mining families from the area who forced through economic hardship emigrated to Australia in the late 19th century in search of a better life. It captures the sense of bereavement suffered for those left behind and the mixed transgenerational feelings for those returning to visit in search of ancestral identity and homeland. Published by Scryfa in 2019.