For the Dragonfly Project, it was important to me to use where possible natural methods.
Therefore in some places, I experimented with and used natural methods.
For the eyes:
To replace the use of the chemical ‘Liver of Sulphur’ I experimented with using Comfrey. This is a wild flower, or weed that grows along the river banks of the Lea, the home of the emporer dragonfly, and where this project began. The roots of this plant are very deep, and it is used along with stinging nettles to make a plant feed for tomatoes. When I made this feed the year before, I noticed the stench of it, like rotten eggs. This smell is the sulphur being released, therefore it has a similar but milder reaction with the copper compounds.
I also used River water, and attempted boiling and also a continued process of heating and rinsing to create subtle heat patinas, with the hope that the pollution from the river water and organic matter would create reactions on the metal. This experiment had effect with the heat but would require much more time to have strong effects.
