Verdigris
Name: Hannah Elmer
Date and Time:
2017.01.24, 10:30am
Location:Morningside Heights, New York
Subject:Setting up verdigris
After reading the Merrifield recipes, I decided to try nr. 155, which called for copper strips, strong vinegar, a sealable container, a means for suspending the copper over the vinegar, and a warm place to let the copper/vinegar cure.
I had several types of vinegar at home; I opted for the white wine vinegar because it had the greatest acidity (7%).
I poured 50ml into the 200ml mason jar (which was provided by the seminar). Because my piece of copper (similarly provided by the seminar) was already rather small (ca. 1x3 inches), I decided it already counted as a 'strip', so I didn't cut it further. I simply bent it in the middle at about 45 degrees so that I could hang it from the string, which I secured with the lid. Following the recipe, I was careful to keep the copper from contacting the vinegar.
The recipe said to place the container in horse dung in order to incubate it. Clearly that wasn't going to happen in my apartment, but I thought my seed-germination mat would make a good substitute. This mat, intended for horticultural use, heats about 10 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature. The heat is constant. I placed the jar on the mat, which means the heat was only coming from the bottom (whereas the dung version would have had heat coming from all sides).
Name: Hannah Elmer
Date and Time:
2017.01.25, 11:30am
Location:Morningside Heights, New York
Subject: Verdigris check
The copper is already consistently blue/green. It looks like powder rather than crystals.
There is slight condensation in the jar and on the copper.
Name: Hannah Elmer
Date and Time:
2017.01.27, 11:30am
Location:Morningside Heights, New York
Subject: Verdigris check
The patina is more intense. The bottom edges show the copper color - it appears that as the condensation drips from the strip, it prevents the crystals from forming on the edges.
ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN MAKING FIELD NOTES
- note time
- note (changing) conditions in the room
- note temperature of ingredients to be processed (e.g. cold from fridge, room temperature etc.)
- document materials, equipment, and processes in writing and with photographs
- notes on ingredients and equipment (where did you get them? issues of authenticity)
- note precisely the scales and temperatures you used (please indicate how you interpreted imprecise recipe instruction)
- see also our informal template for recipe reconstructions