- By Debra Moree
- Entertainment
No structure is more characteristic of rural Upstate New York than a barn. In service or abandoned, these grand architectural structures serve as a reminder of our rural cultural heritage and Yankee ingenuity. Jones’ connection with barns began with her family’s 1880 English style barn where she played and worked as a kid.
In her thirties, fresh from graduate school, she decided to convert the barn with its beautiful timber framework and mortise-and-tendon joints into a home and art studio. She renovated about a-third of the barn doing much of the work myself.
Years later she decided to write a book about her adventure. “The Barn Story” is an illustrated memoir documenting her experience renovating the family barn. The 56-page barn-shaped book is divided into two parts: the first half describes the process of converting the space; the second half documents the results. In illustrating the book Jones used a variety of techniques—drawing, watercolor, schematics, photography, collage and printmaking. She created a cartoon action figure as her surrogate to demonstrate how the makeover was accomplished.
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