What a week!
I don’t know how your week is going, but at the MTS studio we encountered more than a few surprises. Between hosting our first studio visit from a curator and discovering mold growing on one of my frames the very same day, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to stay calm when multiple problems demand your attention at once.
Over the past several months, the MTS team had been preparing for an important studio visit scheduled for Monday. The visit was especially meaningful because it was connected to a gallery application for a potential solo exhibition. My studio assistant and I had a simple plan: pull out the works we wanted to discuss, walk through my artistic process, and share some of the behind-the-scenes systems we use to organize exhibitions. Of course, this meant we needed artwork to show.
Many of my larger paintings are stored in the garage since my studio simply doesn’t have room for four-and five-foot canvases. On the morning of the visit, we went to retrieve a few pieces and immediately ran into a problem. As my assistant pulled one painting out, she noticed dark spots on the floating frame. Mold. On the day of all days!
With only about an hour before the curator arrived, we carried the painting onto the back deck and began frantically researching what to do. The handmade wooden frame had mold concentrated in the corners, and we weren’t sure whether it could be saved. After a quick consultation with my neighbor—who happens to be far more knowledgeable about cleaning than either of us—we realized the frame was beyond repair. So now what?
For about twenty minutes, we tried everything we could think of. Eventually, we made the decision to stop focusing on what we couldn’t fix and start focusing on what we could. The frame was a loss, but the painting itself was fine, and we still had a studio visit to prepare for. We cleaned up the piece as best we could, left it safely on the deck, and shifted our attention back to the reason we were there.
An hour later, the curator arrived after making the roughly two-hour drive from Lexington. It was our first time hosting a curator in the studio, which was exciting and a little nerve-wracking even before the mold situation appeared. But once the visit began, none of that mattered. We talked about the work, shared ideas, and focused on the opportunity in front of us. After the visit concluded, we headed back outside, cleaned the canvas thoroughly, cut apart the damaged frame, and called it a day.
I’m sharing this story not because I want to dwell on the mishap, but because I think moments like these are a good reminder that unexpected problems are part of any creative practice. We could have let the damaged frame derail the entire day. Instead, we made a quick judgment call, accepted what couldn’t be changed, and put our energy toward what still mattered.
Thankfully, that was the only painting affected, and we learned an important lesson about how long artwork can safely remain stored in the garage. Mistakes and surprises are inevitable, but they’re also opportunities to adapt. Sometimes the best thing you can do is assess the situation, focus on what’s within your control, and keep moving forward.
Yours truly,
Makara