September 20, 2010

studio lessons

One of my favourite Buddhist sayings goes something along the lines of, "We are presented with lessons in this life. If we don't learn a lesson the first time we will be presented with it again and again until it's learned." I was thinking about that yesterday as I emptied my studio closet of damp paintings. Just over a year ago our hot-water tank gave up the goat (as my brother calls it) and the basement flooded, including the closet of paintings that have no home. We caught it early and there was no damage. At that time I promised myself we'd find a solution to a storage problem that involves paintings that live beside a laundry room and are just around the corner from the hot-water heater.

Fast forward a year and, typically, problem ignored. After all, we'd lived here for over 12 years with just one little problem, right? Wrong. Lying in bed on Saturday night listening to the monsoon-like rain with the windows wide open I wondered about -- but didn't actually check -- the drain by the back door. The next day, while putting in a load of laundry, I stepped in a puddle. There wasn't much water but what was there did, of course, find its way into that same closet. This time there was damage, and not just from me hitting my head against the wall.

At that point my knight in shining armour (aka my beloved husband, Greg) swooped in and solved the problem. He headed out to Home Depot and had a sheet of 3/4" plywood cut to match the dimensions of the closet floor. He also got five short table legs and screw plates (one for each corner and one for the middle), all for under $60. It was a tight fit (as you can see by the paint scraped from the wall) but works great. And because two heads are better than one, I had a brilliant idea for some support bars. While sorting through the artwork I'd pulled out of the closet I found several stinkers that really needed to see the inside of a garbage bin. Two of them were on 24" x 30" stretchers (1.5" deep) with crossbars. We stripped the canvas off and Greg bolted them to the false floor and the wall, dividing the storage area into thirds. They're shallow enough to maneuvre around and because of the cross bars can support even very small paintings.

I have looked longingly at this $450 studio cart at Opus for years so am really tickled that Greg and I came up with this much more economical solution.

8 comments:

Ellen said...

fantastic, looks like Mark will have a new project in the near future(unbeknown to him). Mine will have to be freestanding though. I actually think you may have more blank canvasses than me. I've noticed having blank canvasses visible around my studio gives me anxiety. I wonder if that's just me being neurotic or if others get that way too. Too much pressure to fill all those painting surfaces.

Costescu said...

very cool, I love seeing great studio ideas! I have been trying to figure out what would work best in my studio as well but so far just leaning panels & canvases along every wall & desk in my studio seems to be working :) I don't have a water heater to motivate me either so could be a few more years ;)

albina said...

Brilliant!!! Now I am having closet envy ;) ahmm, studio storage envy, I mean!

paula said...

wow, love it! ingenuity and not buying so much new stuff. sorry to hear about the leak and paintings got ruined, some not all though yes...

mrwriteon said...

So, can Greg come and do the same thing at our place? That is so cool and it is so satisfying to finally get at something that has been lying in wait. I guess that means I have to paint our living/dining rooms now. Oh, and the Buddhist sentiment? Absolutely unarguable in virtually every area of life.

All that and pesto bread too. You are a gem, but I always suspected that.

Melody said...

Great idea and love how economical it all was...I'll have to talk to John maybe he'll be able to get to it after the other 50 things he hasn't completed...sssh, don't tell him I said that...

ValGalArt said...

clever and cool! :D

Hayden said...

wonderful! I'm always lusting after storage solutions, and though my issues aren't the same as yours, still.... nice, tidy solution that maybe I'll adapt someday.

and yep. the universe generously gives us as many chances to learn as we need. *sigh.*