Ceiling joist reinforcement

[kaprice919]

Hi all,

Question about how to reinforce a ceiling joist. I'd like to hang a rather heavy (~110 lb) piece of artwork (long piece of driftwood) in my closet from the ceiling.
Some previous searching led me to two options:

1. Hang the artwork directly from a single joist with a lag bolt.
2. Run a long 4x4 across 2-3 joists and tie into the middle of it with a lag bolt.

My problem is the joist in my closet. It is not laid on-top of a stud, instead it's nailed into the side of a 2x4 which runs up and is nailed into the side of a rafter. Some context: the ceiling in my house is vaulted with rafters. This closet is a little "hole" beneath those rafters. Photo below of the joist attachment and rough sketch of the closet structure.

This is working fine for hanging a drywall ceiling, but Im worried that it's not enough support to hang a heavy object from. I was thinking of attaching the joist to the 2x4 using joist hangers and galvanized wood screws and doing the same to attach the 2x4 to the rafters. Are there any other ideas? Is this the best way to go about reinforcing this joist and how much weight would it hold?

Photos:
Heres the joists attached to the 2x4, which runs out of the closet "box" (what do you call this?) and to the rafter above.



And a (very poor) sketch of the structure of the closet

 

[kaprice919]

bump

 

[Eddie_T]

I can't really determine what is going on here. Is it a situation where a simple through bolt could solve the problem?

 

[kaprice919]

Sorry, to summarize...
The joist that I want to hang a heavy object on is not attached to a stud. Its nailed to a 2x4 which runs up and is nailed into the side of a rafter. Its insecure and Im worried hanging something from it will cause it to fall.

We extended the closet and the handyman that did the job clearly didn't do a good job of the structure.

Are you saying to put a through bolt to attach the joist to the stud on the left side of the 2x4?

 

[Eddie_T]

I think so but I may be wrong with my visualization.