Chani's Creative Space

Although I am physically in Málaga, my heart is still in the province of Huelva;-) Last but not least, Rio Tinto means an abandoned railway and house ruins , built by the British Rio Tinto Mining Company in the 19th century. Several houses I saw were quite intact, just invaded by vegetation (fig trees...), which made the place even more romantic. And the rails!  There are often different truths for the same reality.  Engineers and technicians would probably tell you about track dilation due to excessive heat. A s a visual artist, I prefer to imagine myself walking in a huge painting by Salvador Dalí.

Less spectacular than Rio Tinto's water but not less interesting is the   mining landscape   in this area (Nerva, Minas de Rio Tinto, Berrocal). Walking there almost automatically makes one think of nature destruction, pollution, sustainability, child labour, working conditions, nature, beauty, and much more.  (All pictures were taken in Nerva, province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain).

As I painted my work Rio Tinto  ("Red River") almost two years ago, I only knew this unique place (in the province of Huelva, near the small town of Nerva, Andalusia, Spain) from the description of a friend. I googled a bit, read some articles, found some pictures... And inspired by what I had read and seen, I began to paint. The result was this work: But my eyes had still not seen the red-orange-yellow-green-blue-black water.  I finally was there a couple of weeks ago, and I can say that reality is more impressive than I could imagine: the colour of the water at different times of the day, the landscape around it, the work of human (abandoned railway, houses...). I took a lot of pictures and classified them in categories. To begin with: water. Enjoy !