Saving Money on Art Supplies

Ok, I'm working on a lot of small "studies" lately, which means many wet paintings at one time. I hang larger paintings on my studio walls to dry, but I don't want to tack up a dozen mini paintings. So what do I do with all these works in progress while they dry?

I was looking online for vertical art storage units and the Safco Art Rack came up a lot.


But, wow, almost $400 for what's basically a box with dividers? That seemed a little on the expensive side for what it was.

Sure, I could probably make a box myself with $20 worth of materials from Home Depot. But, frankly, I'm not very handy that way. I'd more likely staple my thumb to the floor than create anything useful.

So I started looking around for other ideas. Certainly there are other storage units that are not specifically geared toward art that would serve the purpose, aren't there? Yes, there are. You just have to think a little outside the box.

Good old Office Max has a variety of vertical and horizontal letter and folder organizers that work great for smaller paintings. This is what I picked up for only $15:


Much better than $400!

Of course, this only works well for smaller paintings. The paintings shown there range in size from 5"x7" to 8"x10". But I'd imagine there are other solutions out there for larger paintings. If you know of one, share it with me!