Obsession: Cobalt

Cobalt

It isn't just electric, it's magical and mysterious....no really! 

Cobalt has a GREAT story!

Besides the boring part where I mention that it comes from mines in Persia-now Iran-and parts of Europe, turns out the European silver miners used to HATE it because they would often run into some cobalt when mining silver and while it is a decent metal on it's own, it attracts a nasty companion in the form of arsenic.

Woah!

Nobody likes arsenic!

Especially not those Flowers In The Attic kids!

Cobalt's nasty little friend is actually how it got it's name. 

You see, in German folk legend, Kobald was the name of a vicious sprite, who lived in the earth and resented intruders. Kobald was an angry little gremlin.

Did you know that the miners hated Kobald so much that for centuries they would throw it away before it ate at their feet and attacked their lungs?? Yikes!

I guess I can understand why they named it after a vicious goblin!

BUT I'm not sure I want to imagine a life without that vicious little sprite.

via Tobi Fairley blog

What about cobalt blue skirts and coats?!?

That goblin makes for a pretty blouse!

The fact that cobalt got it's name from a gremlin, isn't the only reason it seems so mysterious and alluring....in the 17th century some sneaky people discovered it's propensity to change color when heated and that lead to the magical discovery of invisible inks!! 

Kobald! You sneaky bastard!

When plain paper was held over a fire it would magically turn green where secret messages had been traced. 

WHAAAAT?!?

I can't imagine the unfortunate circumstances that led to that discovery BUT...

I'm pretty sure some cobalt needs to make an appearance at the new house!

Maybe the front door?!?

Shut. Up!

Maybe an ENTIRE ROOM???

Windsor Smith pulled off cobalt in an entire kitchen.....

That takes some major Kobald gremlin balls, people.

Put it all over! 

Why play it safe? 

There are enough boring khaki wearers out there with boring beige walls. 

Thanks to this dude:

Louis-Jacques Thenard, a French chemist, who looks a little like Michael Landon (who, by the way, had gorgeous cobalt-blue eyes), we have the glorious pigment, "Thenard" blue, also known as cobalt. 

Get this...he was the same dude that discovered hydrogen peroxide! 

Was this guy a genius or what?!?

As if those accomplishments weren't enough, he became a baron in 1818 and a member of the Paris Chamber of Deputies in 1828.

Wellllll then. 

I guess we all just look pathetic now, don't we.

Don't even get me started on cobalt velvet or.....

......we'll all just keep procrastinating and never make important discoveries like hydrogen peroxide.

Before your brain is taken over with more random and useless facts about colors, you better go get yourself some cobalt! Make sure you  tell anyone that will listen about how the color is named after an arsenic carrying goblin.

You're welcome!