The Sun Rises on Dust and Clay

Dust The dream I had was a terrible one. When I woke I felt sick inside. I lay there thinking of what my doctor said, you can change your dreams. He said if I don’t like the way the dream ended then I can write out exactly how the dream happened then write how I want the dream to end. Instead of writing in dream therapy I decided to paint the new ending.

DREAM: In the dream there were children covered in dust and embedded in the cliffs of a winding mountain road. Boys and girls dressed in peasant sack cloth, hung in vertical lines. As if this were a normal sight, cars drove past, without a thought, spitting more and more dust until they one by one became stone.

NEW: Of course I cannot live with that dream. I’m not sure how I would have written a better dream, so I painted it. In this painting you see a dry canyon washed in white. There’s a young woman of power with a white owl watching a young woman deeper in the canyon climb her way up. To assist the climb is a large hawk flying above her. He flies straight towards the sun. Continue reading “The Sun Rises on Dust and Clay”

My Sister’s Keeper

My Sisters Keeper - SOLD

I couldn’t decide how to display the painting in this entry. There’s so much to it that I worried I’d leave out an important detail. The reason I like this painting is because of the details. The children are the focus of the painting but each raindrop of color, each stream rains with importance to the whole of the painting. It was a very emotional piece to paint.

I wanted one child struggling and being lead but I wanted the leader to also show her weariness. Together they’d walk as sister’s and friends holding on … holding on. This is not about their suffering but their triumph. My Sister’s Keeper is about partnership, friendship and dedication.   Continue reading “My Sister’s Keeper”

Time for a Vacation

This art website as well as my Etsy shop will be on vacation starting December 1st, 2012 until January 1st 2013. If there is an order you want to place through this website or on Etsy please do so before December 1st.During vacation you may at any time visit my Redbubble shop to purchase prints and postcards.
As of Friday, November 30th, 2012 the Redbubble  shop has been updated and is more consistent than before.Thank you.  See you soon.
Through most of December, Redbubble will offer free shipping with codes that appear at the top of the page. Use the provided code on that website and take advantage of the cost reduction.

Faith-Magdalene Austin
SUNDRIP- Art for Life

Cocoon – Series Paintings

I’ve delayed in posting these pieces because I wasn’t sure how to explain them. I wasn’t sure what to say or if I should say anything at all but I believe I’ve finally found the right mix of words to explain the series of paintings called Cocoon.

First, a little background information: I have Lupus and the symbol for Lupus is the butterfly. Where there’s a butterfly there was once a cocoon. The series focuses on inside the cocoon. The color of the support ribbon for Lupus is purple which is why there are shades of purple here and there in the paintings. Lets move ahead. Truthfully, I’m scared to death about my health. It is this fear which has motivated the series of paintings. Continue reading “Cocoon – Series Paintings”

Power

This is the third and final piece in the series called Renewed.

Power : Renewed by FMA

Title:  Power
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Stats: 5×9, acrylic paint, ink, crackle medium. The painting was first hand sealed then given an acrylic over lay seal. She is painted on mulberry paper mounted to an up-cycled foam board. ‘Power’ has been signed on the front and back.

Continue reading “Power”

Let the River Wash Over Me

This is an original painting in acrylic and ink on reclaimed canvas. The painting shows a female face at the edge of the canvas. She’s holding her breath under a sea of color. Her hair is red and yellow flames of fire that never extinguish. Even though black and turquoise water rush over her, she will resurface.

Painting size: 7 x 5 inches

Continue reading “Let the River Wash Over Me”

Tile Art: Grant me the serenity to accept

I sometimes like to blog about what I was thinking and where I was headed with a painting. For the most part I was thinking about the serenity prayer while painting ‘Holding Flowers.” I didn’t go as far as to write on the tile itself, “Grant me the serenity to accept” but those very words were on my mind through out the entire creative process.

I wanted to create a surreal, dreamlike moment. I wanted the viewer to feel as if they’re observing a private moment of a woman taking stock of herself, taking a moment to hold on to what she needs and let pass what she doesn’t.

Change feels rigid but its not, its fluid and that’s what I wanted to lines on the painting to be.

That’s what I was thinking and feeling as I created Holding Flowers. She has been painted on a 4 x 2 tile in acrylic and ink.

Art Title: Holding Flowers
Ceramic tile as canvas, 4×2 inches
Acrylic and ink, sealed, signed on the back
Art by Faith Magdalene Austin of Sundrip Journals

Breakthrough

We meet the edge just before a breakthrough. Just before higher understanding and level ground is the edge.

The painting ‘Breakthrough’ shows a young woman in a red dress standing on the edge of the river. Her head is bowed ever so slightly to hold a bare tree that has grown from her hair. From the branches and through the fog, fly small birds.   She stands in mist sprays, and flowing colors of purple, turquoise, green and white. In the profile of the young woman waiting for her breakthrough is a woman looking off into the distance.

Title: Breakthrough
Size: 6×4 on creative canvas

Continue reading “Breakthrough”

PTSD No3 Whisper

I had no idea there would be a series of paintings called PTSD but there is. . .


In PTSD No3 there’s a river that flows from the sky right through the woman, past the eyes and forms the figures dress. The dress runs over the brick wall and simply stops. The paint on the brick wall has bits of stone mixed in making this piece multidimensional. I had to mix in a bit of stone with the sunflower painting because sunflowers in stone is significant to me. There are also tiny little details, layer upon layer of color and edge to edge movement which all comes together to form PTSD No3 Whisper.

Whisper can be purchased in my ETSY shop by clicking the link provided on the sidebar. If you do not have an ETSY account you may contact me to use PayPal.

Thank you for visiting SUNDRIP – Art for Life
Faith M. Austin

Gathering

I ran ink, acrylic and wax together to form the painting called Gathering. It shows several Asian, African and other ethnic woman standing together with their feet covered in mists of red, green, gold and black. A large white moon glows behind them with its light caught in deep blues and gold. In this emotional and texture rich piece the ladies arms reach gently to connect with one another.

The original of this painting called Women Alone showed several women standing around looking grieved.  The purpose of the original version  was to show how alienated I can feel when I’m in a lot of pain physically. The rebirth of the painting is to show that despite the pain I’m not alone. The rebirth of this piece was to validate what I felt but also to firmly plant in my mind the reality of the situation. As long as I reach out or make myself available for connection then I am not alone. It is also a reminder that my situation can get ugly and trying but it can change. Life can get ugly and painful but that doesn’t mean its the final curtain call.  Things can change. Continue reading “Gathering”