Bard Heim Barn

In one of my ‘former lives’ when I was hanging out with a lot of photographers and other artists, there was occasionally impassioned talk about negative space.  That’s the space in two- or three-dimensional art where other things are not present.  Negative space is a design element and actually a very positive and useful tool, so artists say.

Heckes House and Annex

I think there is a sort of negative space in writing, as well.  What isn’t said, either in fiction or non-fiction, often makes all the difference.  The interplay between what is revealed and kept hidden is often the crux of a good mystery, for instance.  In an article on history, it can conceal or help reveal an author’s bias.  And in poetry there is often more negative than positive ‘space.’

Here in Oysterville, we are protective of our “open spaces” – the meadow at the south end of town, the swath of marshy shoreline to the east of town, the lot in front of the schoolhouse that was once a prime blackberry picking area.  All of these areas, empty of buildings, are negative spaces with intention.  They help to define the village and allow it to retain that special feel that everyone familiar with Oysterville has noticed.

Tommy Nelson’s Cannery

But, there are other negative spaces in Oysterville.  They are the places where buildings once stood – especially the buildings that were there “just a while ago” which, of course, means anytime in the memories of those still living.  So many come to mind…  The Greenman House on the southwest corner of Territory and Oysterville Roads.  The Bard Heim Dairy Barn that once dominated the north end of town.  The Annex to the Heckes Boarding House.  The little cottage where Vic and Ruby Danowicz lived that was once served as the town’s first meat market.  The buildings that comprised Tommy Nelson’s Cannery.   There are probably more — barns, sheds, outhouses.  And, now, most recently, the Captain Stream House.

Happily, the Captain Stream House will reappear, thanks to the dedicated stewardship of its new owners.  How I wish some of the other ghost buildings would come back.  Their absence creates negative space that has no positive dimension at all for Oysterville.  Not that I can see.