Sundrip Journals
I was on a kick with trees. This is the 3rd of 4 trees first created with tea stains then colored in.
What I like about this tree is the way the bare white stands off the blue back drop. I also like the gradient of red, yellow and orange which is divided rather abruptly by the white bark. Â Tiny details can be seen here and there. There are small white flowers, tiny blades of grass, shadows, textures and depth. Continue reading “White Tree Blue Sky”
At 27 inches in length, head to feet, Sage makes quite a statement.
Sage is a 100% handmade African-American rag doll, art doll. Her face is hand painted, her hair sewn in piece by piece. She can wear her hair down in dreadlocks or up in a headdress.  The Queen’s inner layered garment is a dusty lavender polyester. Her outer flowing floral garment is sheer rayon of lavender, cream and sage. The flowers in her hands are real lavender that were dried then painted. Sage wears a pendant and gemstone around her neck.
Not only is she hand stitched and hand painted, but her clothing is handmade as well. I also made the pendant she’s wearing and painted the flowers she’s holding. Continue reading “Sage: a Queen on Her Throne”
This painting was even more simple before it’s final brush strokes. The 
young woman at first stood at the top of a hill and with courage looked down at what could be if only she had the courage to take the first few steps. This version, the final, shows her at the bottom of the hill in a flowery meadow, walking about the landscape of a Grand Artist.
When I first tried to upload the painting, the original version, I had the hardest time in the world getting the colors to translate. The grass was never yellow, there wasn’t that much white in the sky and there was more blue for certain. I couldn’t get it the colors to translate. I liked the painting though so I sat it aside. Continue reading “It’s a Good Day”
Well, well, well. This is easier than I thought it would be and a lot more fun now that I’m really into it. At first I really struggled and stressed over the idea of pure abstract work. One has to let go, be free to do abstract. They have to let go of everything being in line and perfectly crafted with a big meaning behind it. I do that. I fill pages from edge to edge with details upon details. For me these paintings are ones where I’m holding on to control very tightly. It looks like organized chaos or as I like to say, chaos in color. The truth is, these works of art are so filled with images that I am bound to the painting, even obsessed at times. I love it, don’t get me wrong but there is a lot of holding on to control. With the abstracts I’m learning to let go a little. That’s the whole point of the 10 piece challenge, let go, don’t try to stay in control all of the time. It’ll kill ya, I swear it will. Continue reading “Wish Falls Abstract Painting #7”
To the extent that I managed to translate the emotions into images– that is to say, to find the images which were concealed in the emotions– I was inwardly calmed and reassured.
Had I left those images hidden in the emotions, I might have been torn to pieces by them….
Carl Jung
If I didn’t paint MY WAY, I’d lose my mind. If I didn’t pick up a brush or pencil I’m not quite certain how I’d express deepest emotion. Art is the best medium when there are no words or when words aren’t good enough. Continue reading “art is the reason I’m not crazy”
It can be difficult to know what to name some paintings. I sat and looked at this one and began to name the things I saw. Well, there’s most certainly a large moon with detailed gold rim, water that rapidly moves and spills onto red earth. In the background could those be trees or the mountains or are there individuals taking time to feel the cool grass and be refreshed by the water? After I named all the natural elements the tile became clear: Elements. Continue reading “Elements an Abstract Painting”
At 7 x 5 inches this painting packs an emotional punch for me. The pallet is gold, green and hues of blue. Fire swirls, water climbs and falls, mist hangs and a young girl in a white dress sits by the bank waiting for something big to happen. This painting is highly textured, is full of energy and wonder. Continue reading “Waiting for Magic”
A canvas splashed with a tiny bit of color on the side sat on my desk for a good long time waiting for something, anything to happen. Last night in my rush to paint trees, I picked up the canvas and began to sketch.
This afternoon I completed the painting by adding brighter colors than seen in Tea Tree. As a matter of fact, this tree has a totally different feel because of the boldness of the colors. I still had a ball of fun creating it. Continue reading “Colors”
Sometimes I don’t know what I want to put on paper so I just spray it with water, put a reusable tea cloth on it and leave it alone. I may even remove the tea leaves and spread them over the paper. Later I’ll come back and add color then put the paper away expecting nothing to come of it right then.
Nights like last night make pieces of paper like described above worth making. It was a long night and I needed to sketch but I needed to sketch just one thing, trees. I sketched three in all. The first is on the tea and ink stained paper seen in the accompanying photos.
Although I have used rainbow colors this has more of an earthy feel to it. It appears to be watercolor stains but the medium is acrylic paint and tea leaves accompanied by scribbles and scratches for branches.
I’m pleased with the painting.
Title: Tea Tree
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Medium: Acrylic paint and tea on paper, 8.5 x 7.5
Seeing the Lines
I’d like to learn to paint birds and I’d like to learn to paint more abstract pieces such as expressionism, contemporary and modern abstract. I really, really want to do abstract. I recently purchased an art pad that I intend to dedicate to this abstract journey of mine. When I paint an object such as birds, flowers, what have you, I need a photo reference in front of me so that I can see the lines. A long time ago I didn’t paint sunflowers because I couldn’t ‘see’ it in my head. I couldn’t see the lines of the petals.
I found a website that showed step by step how to paint a sunflower. It was some sort of site where the artist painted with the mouse and then the program showed viewers step by step how the artist painted the piece. That is how I learned to ‘see’ the lines of what I wanted to paint. Wish I could remember that link.
I think I may need to get a cheap book of various birds and flowers. Once I can ‘see’ it I can alter it according to the theme of an individual painting, but I’ve got to learn the lines first.
Abstract Freedom of Expression
Continue reading “Artist Thoughts: Seeing and an Abstract Journey”