Looking With A Camera Lends Comfort

My studio is in an old barn structure in the Hudson Valley. The larger part on the left was built around 1800. The other two structures a little later. The long barn was the local post office and general store for the area, and there are remnants of that inside. My studio is on the second floor. When we first moved here 30+ years ago, an old gentlman who delivered me firewood told us that the second floor was used for boxing and, on alternate days, dancing.

Perfect energy for a cartoonist.

We fixed up the second floor enough for me to work in, but left everything else pretty much the same. That’s old Crimmy, looking at me.

I wandered into the older barn structure just now and took photos for you. What I look for—and love to see— are remnants of people and animals. It’s fascinating. I also look for colors and shapes.

Below, a worn feed box. Were these for horses? Probably.

An old mower that was left, we were lucky to find it when we moved here; we find all kinds of old metal pieces and parts of tools in the earth every year. Barn swallow droppings are piled beside it—the birds were bombarding me while I took these photos because they have built new nests.

To build and finish these structures, wood was used no matter where it came from. If it had writing on it, it didn’t matter. They used it.

Below: why is this wood shape here, what purpose did it serve for an animal? I just love the colors and the shapes.

This looks like an abstract painting. It’s a metal piece nailed down to cover a hole or something.

A ceiling. Layers of stuff pieced together over time.

Our home is directly across the street in a small hamlet, and is also from around 1800. I often think about the people who lived here then and what was going on politically at the time. It was just as crazy, maybe even more so, than now.

That gives me some comfort.

Thanks for being here, see you tomorrow!