New Camping Linocut & Drying Rack

Several new print projects are in the early stages, but here is one that is now finished. It's a linocut titled "Solitude" and it's hanging from a drying rack that I made this morning.

Printmaking Drying Rack - Hoisted Up

The inspiration for the rack came from printmaker Maria Arango, when I saw a print hanging from an ingenious rack in one of her Facebook photos. I spent several weeks contemplating the design with my wife's help and then researched online how people construct similar racks for drying clothes.

Printmaking Drying Rack - Hanging Down

I came up with a two-pulley design to fit my studio's needs. It can be lowered to about head height so I can easily pin my wet prints as I pull them off my adjacent etching press. When the print run is done, I can hoist them to the ceiling to get them out of the way, which is invaluable since my studio space is small. It can be built for about $35.

You might notice the middle rope hanging down...I should explain. It doesn't provide any support for the rack and isn't under tension, it's only for emergency. Should the rack system fail and drop from the ceiling, the middle rope would catch the rack so the prints don't drop to the floor. The pulleys are rated to 420lbs so I think I'll be ok!