With the help of some friend's heavy lifting and my dad's carpentry skills, my new garage studio is complete. I have a 2 car garage and am using one half for the press and work space.
My dad built the work area and I covered it with glass, which you need for mixing and cleaning up ink. He also built the shelf above for storing all the ink supplies and brayers. I bought the custom made press and flat files from a fellow printmaker. I also found a vintage kitchen table and a mid century modern bar stool at the Salvation Army. 
Overall I'm so excited to finally have my own space to create prints. I've run into a couple issues with having a garage studio. The first is rust. I left the press for about 3 weeks and uncovered it to find it completely coated with rust. After cleaning it all off, I coated it with lubricant and am awaiting a product recommended to me by a printing press manufacturer called Weatherpruf that supposedly keeps machines rustproof for up to a year. The other issue is emptying my huge water tray with no sink. I had to drag my whole table out to the driveway to dump the water. I'm still working on a fix for that. Either a hose to siphon it or a pump of some sort.
4 comments:
That studio looks so nice and clean. I bet you can't wait to mess it up with ink and paint! I am so jealous. Congrats and good luck!
Thanks! I've wanted my own press for a few years. I can't wait to get messy! :)
Cute studio!
I have a possible fix for your water tray issue: my college studio had a paper bath that was essentially a wooden tray, and it had a spigot on the bottom right corner. when it came time to change the water, they'd just open the spigot and drain the water into a bucket. It took a couple of trips to the sink, but it worked.
OH, Sheri! How happy am I to see your new studio....and that press.....she has found a good home...!!! You attacked that rust in just the right way....and for the life of me, I can't recall how I emptied that tray. I think I just scooped water out until it was light enough to carry. I don't recall it being a problem because I was SO involved with the whole process. One thing I did do was soak the paper and then take it out and keep it in a plastic garbage bad for future use. Of course this is within reason.....you can't keep it too long that way. Yes....I am SO happy to see this space and the press in that condition. Blessings to you and your process...ox
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