Artful Living

During the early 1900s the Woodstock, NY artists roughed it for their art. Farmers found they made more money renting their converted chicken coops and barns to artists. Some of the farmers provided chimneys, but saved on costs by only installing half-chimneys. These were hung on a bracket a few feet below the roof. Wood was cheap and the artists purchased woodstoves from mail-order catalogs.

John Carlson swore that when the belly of his stove was red hot he could pick icicles off its bottom. If artists complained about lack of insulation, the farmer’s wife invariably came over with some of their clothing to stuff the gap. In-door plumbing was years away and so privies were the rule and streams provided natural dishwashers.

Nonetheless the artists persevered through summers and winters. Artists worked in their studios all day and then foregathered in the evening at one studio or another to discuss their artistic techniques and inspirations. This early era was known as the golden age of Woodstock colony. Some of the early artists included Andrew Dasburg, Henry L. McFee, Frank S. Chase, Marion Bullard, Eugene Speicher, among many others.