Japanese Gardens
Let’s embrace some tranquility – rock therapy can work wonders. Japanese Gardens are ultimately a landscape designer’s paradise. The gardens may not always be large, but they make a statement with topiary and gravel raked in distinctive patterns. Simplicity is beautiful. I wonder how a rock garden can be applied as a science activity?
I was in Kyoto during the cherry blossom season in 2015, exploring a multitude of temples and gardens. The rock garden of Daisen In Temple is designed to express the spirit of yen through rocks, sand and gravel. Smooth flat rounded rocks convey calm and solid energy. The curves in the raked gravel were symbolic of wave energy, while the pointed rocks generated a strong and active mood. The essence of the temple was to allow for contemplation and smoothing of the minds distractions. I needed it.
Art Paints
Let’s break down the rock process, minerals in particular. Minerals can be used in so many different ways – a fun experiment is for students to make their own art paint. Various rock minerals paint different colours such as iron oxide for red, azurite for blue and malachite/copper for green. It’s certainly an effort to grind a stone to power – an easier way to create fine pigments in the lab is to grind up pastels. It may be cheating, but it’s time effective.
Making oil paints will get messy, and safety gear such as a mask, gloves and goggles is an absolute must. Oil paints are a mixture of pigments with linseed oil, mixing will take time and require some patience. A more quick approach is to make water coloured paints. Pigments are mixed with water and a binder such as egg yolk. The paint can then be used straight away.
What makes for a more fun experiment is to simply used ingredients that are found in the kitchen. Approximately a cup of baking soda and slightly less of vinegar are first mixed in a large bowl. In fact, it is these ingredients that create the foaming lava for a volcano experiment. Then add a small amount of corn syrup with a cup of corn starch to change the consistency. Pour the mixture into an ice cube tray and allow to settle for a few minutes before adding and mixing different pigments for colour. Allow to dry over a couple of days away from direct sunlight. Another option is to add food colouring to create a palette of different colours. The opaqueness of the watercolour paints will depend on the consistency and the pigments used.
Cave Paintings
Cave paintings have always intrigued me – from looking at the various materials they used to what they drew. A mixture of minerals, plants and animals were combined to create the earthy colours that have lasted over incredible time periods. A good mixture of clay ochre created yellow, brown and red colours, magnesium oxide and charcoal produced black and calcite created white. Other minerals such as feldspar and quartz may have be added to prevent the paint from cracking when drying.
I’ve seen some brilliant cave paintings and frescoes in different parts of the world. One place that is particular memorable is Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka. It was rich in cultural significance and kingdom history, and equally so from a geological perspective. Sigiriya Rock has been formed from a hardened volcanic plug, from what is today an extinct volcano. Natural cave shelters and rock overhangs have been a place of shelter for many monks and many traces of paintings have since disappeared. We are travelling back in time to King Kassapap’s region, 450 – 500 years AD. It was once a site for a Royal Palace and Government with landscaped gardens; pavilions and even a pool perched on the top of the rock summit. It stands at 370 metres elevation, quite an achievement when you glance at the vertical gradient. Rock steps engraved into the side of the rock were still visible to see.
Also visible to see were the frescoes about half way Sigiriya Rock. An open-air spiral staircase guides keen enthusiasts into a small enclave. I wondered what inspired people to draw such wonderful pieces of art into the rock face so high up? And the paintings were of equal interest – buxom attractive women are linked to tantric Buddhism from the 5th century. It was the expression in their faces and eyes that was mystifying – this rock art still survives to show an enchanting tale.
Rebecca John 
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