Category: Originals

Art Adoption: Young Joker

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Young Joker - SOLDArt without a wall of its own is sad.  “Young Joker” waited a little bit for the right wall to come along and it did. Packaged ever so carefully, this special art piece will travel to its destiny via US Postal System. It’s a happy day when art gets adopted.

“Young Joker” is a rainbow dance around a patch of white flowers. Wrapped in the landscape are several who are finding their way through the meadow. A black bird takes the same path.

Art Title: Young Joker
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Size: 8.5 × 5.5
Media: Marker, acrylic
Finish: signed on front and back, unmounted, not framed

Paintings that compliment “Young Joker” can be seen in the below gallery and are available via Etsy or PayPal invoice. See the sidebar for details.

Give art a home.

Feed a starving artist. Seriously, I could use a sandwich 🙂

Faith

DIY Encaustic Tools and Painting

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Awhile ago I did an encaustic mixed media piece created with Crayola and acrylic paint. Though I liked the way it turned out I thought it might be even better toned down a bit. I decided to go back and make it less abstract. The first step was to gather all my tools.

DIY Encaustic Art Tools

All you need is above and they are easy to acquire, household tools I used to melt wax and crayons for encaustic art. Since these are household used in encaustic painting, you will have to be careful to monitor the heat.

  1. Small glass jar or empty aluminum tea candle
  2. Coffee mug warmer or tea candle oil warmer
  3. Crafting iron
  4. Toothpick or small scraper such as clay tools
  5. Wax paper or Parchment paper

With those basics I was able to warm blues and greens then smooth them over the crafted canvas.

.Dollar Tree oil/wax burner .Small glass bottle of Crayola melted crayon

I mentioned in the original entry that the painting is on Viva Paper towels. Let me explain; the paper towels were layered with wax then gesso and Mod Podge until I had a nice surface. Continue reading “DIY Encaustic Tools and Painting”

Attaya and other cultural ceremonies

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Strawberry Kisses - available

Summer will bring kids and their parents to my home which means tea and more tea with painting and more painting plus some history tossed in.

Depending on the country, the ceremony or party, the kids use traditional cups dated as late as the 1940’s. My number of countries represented in tea is down to 38 countries because my Kenyan Ceylon container is empty. It’s on my list of must have. We’ve got so many good stores around here but I can’t seem to find one that will order this tea for me. I want the loose leaf by Safari.

I let the kids use vintage and antique cups without worrying too much about them breaking but I went ahead and retired my English rose tea pot. I’m a bit more protective of that one. No one uses my daily tea pot either. I’m even more protective of it. I don’t fret a lot about the cups being broken but I do expect all to use them respectfully. If one should break then it’ll do well as a planter and I can go to Goodwill and search for a replacement. Goodwill is where many online shops get their tea cups for which they charge exorbitant prices.

Here’s a little article on West African tea ‘ceremonies’. I’ve also started a collection of African recipes on my Pinterest page.

Continue reading “Attaya and other cultural ceremonies”

Soothing Tree Drawings in Watercolor and Ink

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Drawing trees is soothing. I usually draw them bare. I love leaves. i like to see them up close and examine the cells. I recently learned that my sweet potato plant was holding water in the cells of the leaf because I watered too much and too late in the day. Leaves are a beautiful creation but I hardly ever draw them. I like them bare. There’s something so beautifully vulnerable about a bare tree.

I love to follow the designs on bark with my finger. There’s something so …. spiritual….about trees.

When it comes to art, I have a go to doodle.  I think all artists have a certain something they draw in almost a self soothing kind of way. The self soothing art for me is to draw trees with the branches reaching out, twisting and breaking through the things we can’t even see. Branches break through the air, they hold themselves erect when gravity tries to pull them over. I love that they take their place in the soil and let their roots reach as far and deep as they desire.

I absolutely love above the ground root systems. Those are fun to follow, too. Of course I have to peak in the little crevices where moss grows. I admire spider webs and small bugs that scramble to get away from my curious fingers.

Available
– Available

When I was a kid I was told that if a person draws a tree it usually represents them. I was told that putting a scar on the tree represents personal trauma. I never forgot that. Despite the psychological reasons for drawing trees, doing so is soothing for me.

Two trees displayed in this entry are Pay it Forward art pieces. You can find them in the Community Grabs and PIF section in my Etsy shop.

The first entry on trees has been posted in the Featured Art Gallery. page.

Unfortunately, the comment option may not appear on the WP feed but you are always welcome to leave one on my webpage if you desire.

Fun with Scribbles and Watercolor

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I started by drawing lines with my eyes closed, later I added watercolor.

Get the Tom - available

Title: Get the Tom
Art by: Faith M. Austin
Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Media: watercolor, ink
Finish: unsealed, not mounted
Style: Abstract

You may ask yourself why the title is “Get the Tom.” Well, the answer is simple. I was watching a detective show where a criminal couple stole diamonds. The man thought the woman lost the diamonds but nope, she held up her hand full and, “I’ve got the tom.” I couldn’t call the painting ‘tomfoolery” now cold I? What kind of title is that? ……. As you can see, I struggle to come up with titles for my work.

Titles don’t come easily but fun art does. The fun thing about “Get the Tom”  is that I took an art therapy project and turned it in to art for the sake of art. There is no back story, no profound meaning, it’s just enjoyable art using watercolor and ink.

“Get the Tom” is listed as a Pay it Forward item in the Community Grabs and PIF section in my Etsy shop. In its listing you will see close up shots showing details.

Thank you,

Faith

The Last Reign

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The Final Reign - Available“The Last Reign” is in the Visionary Original Paintings gallery as well as in my Etsy shop.

This 5.5 x 8.5 mixed media piece showcases deep colors and moody lines. It is truly a Sundrip piece in that I’ve painted edge to edge with imagery everywhere you look.

There are masks or what some may call face shields. There are people and washes of color. Blue, gold, black, and red shape images of human figures with history written on their faces.  Continue reading “The Last Reign”

Jane’s GardenBlooms

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Jane's Flowers Bloom - Available Dr. D asked why African Americana is one of my favorite types of art. I like it because its simple. I like faceless black rag dolls and faceless black art. This little 4 x 7 piece is a simple illustration of country home life. It shows a mother and child in the garden with the flowers blooming in beautiful white all around. The mother gives her daughter a single bloom.

One of the other things I appreciate most about simple, primitive art is that I can give it my own story. Did a mother give her daughter a flower or did the woman gift her younger self? Did the younger person give the flower but the hand movement isn’t shown? Was the flower given on impulse of love? Maybe it was the perfect flower for the perfect friend. In primitive art such as in “Jane’s flowers Bloom,” the story isn’t spelled out for me in strict detail; it’s hinted at and whispered through the field.  Continue reading “Jane’s GardenBlooms”

My beloved theme is BACK!!!

Posted on by Faith
Crystal - Let the Mountains Shake
Crystal : Let the Mountain’s Shake

I HATED those other themes. They weren’t me at all. I couldn’t stand it, but Twenty Twelve is back. Lets hope things go better this time. I so missed you Twenty Twelve. I don’t like change that much. This theme fits my needs. I like it and don’t want to give it up.

You may still have to come to my site to leave comments because the comment option may not appear on the WP feed. Just know you are always welcome to the webpage.

Now I can stop obsessing over this site. The comments on the WP feed may not get fixed. I have no idea how to do it and my web mistress isn’t available right now. Shoot. I was starting to wonder if it’s even worth going all out to get a nice theme and arrange it. If people basically read from WP then they can’t see updates to pages or that there’s new information on the sidebar. I’ll still update it though.

Continue reading “My beloved theme is BACK!!!”

Living Things

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She Flows -SOLD
She Flows -SOLD

I sold a painting that I figured would never, ever sell. What’s cool about this painting is that it may not be for everyone but I know the reason I created her. When I see her I think of a well rooted woman, fierce, natural and strong. Before putting her in the room divider with art, I had her in a wood frame with carvings on it. It seemed to fit her well. I’m happy she found a wall of her own. That’s very cool.

Moving from the art area to plants, I see my sweet potato plant is in need of a new pot. I like self watering systems because of how handicapped friendly they are. You can decide if the handicap is poor watering habits or Lupus, either way, it helps keep my plants alive longer when they sit above the water source.

My girl Jane decided it would be a good idea to sip from my Starbucks coffee. This means she slept 16 hours that day instead of 18. I couldn’t believe she just got up and started drinking from my cup. What on earth? Have you lost your mind? I could have sworn we had an agreement: stay away from my food.

Usually when I bring something in the house something else has to go but with the sale at Petco going on I’ve decided to break that rule. I really like the way the plant area is set up so when the new aquarium comes on Monday it’ll sit in a different spot. I’m staying with the Philodendron plant and a peace lily. Those plants grow crazy in a 20 gallon tall terrarium like the one I’m getting. Continue reading “Living Things”