When Good Art Goes Bad

Take a close look at Firewalk II. Those slightly squared pink-white patches aren’t color, it’s some form of mold. I did a little research and there is something called blanching that effects paintings, but I don’t think that’s what is going on here.

I have two theories. One is bad gesso. Sometime after I painted this I found mold growing in my gesso bucket.

My second theory is based on the fact that this was a reclaimed canvas that had gold leaf squares on it. Since the pattern of mold is similar to how I recall the old canvas, I think what were seeing is a chemical reaction between the metal and the paint.

My clients love the piece and do not want to sell it back. My concern is that every time they wipe it down with 409 to kill the ‘mold’, which continues to come back, it loses a little color. (You can see the original in the Shop menu).

Anyone see this before? How would you treat it?