At Last

Peter back at work

At long last, all is right with the world in Peter's studio. He's finally able to paint again in a cleaner and leaner studio. It's been almost 6 weeks since the great soot disaster of 2011 began and now I think we can say that it has come to an end. The beast has been quelled, to quote Peter, at least for the most part.

Empty Pod

The empty storage pod -- where are all the boxes?

Here they are! Waiting to be unpacked, cleaned and put some where.

Yes, I'm making you live this day by day with us! Peter's soot disaster of 2011 lives on but is hopefully finally coming to an end. Servpro did an excellent job of unloading, unpacking and cleaning the entire storage pod yesterday. Not to mention what a great job they did with the whole building as well as our painting contractor. Now the rest of it is up to us. The studio looks great. There will be a lot of organizing in our future, but at least Peter can finally get back to work. Yay!

Peter's Clean Studio

A quick video to show Peter's new and improved studio since the soot disaster of 2011. Servpro is here today cleaning the contents of the storage pod, that is everything they packed and moved out of the studio. Then they will move everything back into the studio over the next day or so.

Progress

A shine on the freshly cleaned studio floor!

Progress in cleaning the studio is being made. The floor of the main studio was cleaned this weekend. There's still more to do, but that made such a big difference. Between the paint and the clean floor everything is so much brighter. Peter is enjoying the open space and doesn't want to move anything back in.

Painting the Studio

Ghost easels from studio past, ready to get back to work in studio future

The painters have gone home and Peter wonders if he is ever going to paint again

The studio is being painted and should be done next week. Still lots more to do before Peter is able to go back to work. We can't wait! It's been almost a month since disaster struck.

Another Day

Studio deconstruction in progress

Today, we left the studio in the hands of ServPro. It's going to be a long process, but they're making progress. I'm feeling nostalgic for the old studio and Peter is excited for the new. Here are some past photos and blog entries about the studio, Fall Shows, Upcoming Shows, No LAD, The Studio. Memories...

Our Messy Mess

Paul hustling back to the studio

The studio cleaning saga continues. Today was the first real day of real cleaning and boy what a day. We threw out a lot. It's amazing how easy it is to throw something out, even things that have been held onto for years, when they're covered in soot. All that is garbage is suddenly revealed.

ServPro is doing a great job so far. I don't think we could get through this without them. We made a good dent, but there's still plenty more to do tomorrow and the next day...

Peter's Studio...

...is still a sooty mess, but professional help is on the way!

The dumpster and a storage pod arrive Monday along with a cleaning crew from ServPro.Yay! It has only taken 2 weeks for our insurance company to come through for us but they have and that's all that matters. Peter has been very sad and now he is very happy.

Did I say yay? Double yay!

Cleaning One Painting at a Time

Oy! Be gone evil soot!

Peter cleaning and thinking of the days he used to paint

All clean -- one down, hundreds more to go!

While we wait for the insurance company to get back to us, we have started the daunting task of cleaning all of the paintings stored in the studio. Once cleaned, we're moving them into the house until the studio itself can be cleaned. We have discovered a wonderful product for removing soot, the chemical sponge. It's very good until it's full and then it makes a mess.

Soot Webs, Who Knew!

After the smoke cleared, we could see that the studio was covered in these black web formations. At first we couldn't believe there were so many spider webs in there, but we have since learned that soot forms webs, who knew! They come off fairly easily, but leave oily smudgy stains behind. Time to bring in the professionals.

Studio Disaster

A film of gritty, oil dust covers everything in the studio

We will never forget this last Saturday, February 19th, 2011. A tree fell and took down the power lines on our road. It was a cold and windy day and with no hope of the power company showing up soon, Peter lit the kerosene heater in the basement of his studio to keep the pipes from freezing.

A couple of hours later, I went to check on the heater and when I opened the studio door, black, oily smoke had filled the building and bellowed out the open door. I called for Peter and we opened all of the windows. Our nostrils and the creases in our skin were filled with black dust. Our clothes smelled like kerosene and were gray and smudged.

When the air cleared, we could see the damage. Everything in the studio, every nook and cranny of which there are many, everything was and is still covered with a film of gritty, oily dust. It's overwhelming.