Under the Surface

My daughter Ellie just turned nine, and right now the two of us are elbow-deep in a new build — not a set from a box, but a MOC (LEGO-speak for “my own creation”): a custom diorama we’re putting together to show at an upcoming LEGO exhibition.

Here’s something most people don’t know about builds like this. We rarely start on a clean baseplate and go straight up. We build a hidden foundation first — a technique called MILS (Modular Integrated Landscaping System): you scatter small bricks across the baseplate in a set pattern, then cap them with a layer of plates. That plate layer becomes your new “ground,” the surface where the real build begins.

And here’s the part I love. The bricks down in that foundation are whatever we can dig up — mismatched colors, odd sizes, leftovers from a hundred old sets. Builders call it “filler brick.” Underneath, it’s a colorful disaster. Total chaos.

But every bit of the beauty — the careful color, the clean lines, the little glowing scenes — starts one plate higher. And none of it would stand for a second without that mess holding it up.

That’s about where I am right now. The beach is behind us, Ellie’s got a new number on the cake, swim season is winding down — and my calendar is quietly filling back in with classes, rehearsals, and a fall that’s coming fast.

For years I resisted this stretch. I’d wish for one more empty week, one more chance to “get caught up.” Now I’ve started to love it, because I finally understand what it actually is.

It’s the filler brick.

This week I’ve been outlining courses my students will step into in a few weeks, interviewing for next year’s studio leadership team, and sitting with a new composition that’s barely starting to find its voice. None of it is finished. A lot of it is messy, whatever-I-can-find groundwork that no one will ever see.

Beginnings rarely get applause. Nobody claps for the outline, the rough first draft, or the calendar you finally untangled. But that chaotic layer is exactly what everything beautiful ends up standing on.

So whatever you’re starting right now, don’t rush past the messy part. It isn’t the boring part, or the throwaway part. It’s the foundation — and the good stuff only rises because of it.