What Remains – Surrealism and Recovery

What Remains fmaWhen I painted this piece I wasn’t necessarily thinking about natural disasters such as a hurricane, tsunami or an earthquake. I was thinking of the disasters of the mind. I was thinking about events that leave us feeling crippled and isolated.

What Remains is a painting with many brush strokes, strikes with a toothpick and with black ink. Everywhere you look there is something filling the space. It’s full, overwhelming the canvas with flowing color, splashing contrast and texture that digs at the heart of the matter.

Continue reading “What Remains – Surrealism and Recovery”

The Growing Process

Growing ProcessArt Title: The Growing Process
Art by: Faith M. Austin
Medium: Acrylic, ink on artist paper, size 8.5 x 5.5 , signed, sealed, unmounted.
The Growing Process is ready to ship today.

Monday afternoon I showed a friend this painting. He said,
“She looks sad”. I replied, “You would be too if you had the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Yes, she does look sad, and yes great responsibilities are hers. There’s a lot riding on her actions or inaction. However, she has not given up, nor has she slowed the growing process. Continue reading “The Growing Process”

I might have been torn to pieces

Jung Art


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.

There is a chance that I might have succeeded in splitting them off; but in that case I would inexorably have fallen into a neurosis and so been ultimately destroyed by them.

As a result of my experiment I learned how helpful it can be, from the therapeutic point of view, to find the particular images which lie behind the emotions.

Carl Jung

The bird flew in the window fma

A Bird Flew in the Window

I Release Her

I release her

fma

Ashes – Hesitant to Speak

AshI know what I want from this painting but who knows how long it’ll take to reach the finish line.

24 x 36 on watercolor paper.

This young girl is made of ashes. She’s wearing a dress made of bits and pieces of this and that. There is burlap and there are wood shavings, colored paper and ink ‘spills’. In her arms she will carry a bouquet of red roses but not bright red. The young girl’s hair will change slightly. You can be sure I’ll pull the wolf (in the top right corner) out in more detail. He’s just a cloud formed above her. At this time there is only one raven in the sky and a few solar flares in the sky. The final question is, will she be for sale? I have no idea. Continue reading “Ashes – Hesitant to Speak”

Reach – Surreal Etching

Reach Sundrip fmaReach is a surreal painting / etching created with Crayola Crayons and Crayola Markers on 6.5 x 4.5 inch paper. This is original art drawn with Crayola, smoothed with my fingers then detailed in ink. Your painting is hand crafted in that the images, including the woman with many arms, the sitting figure, the rain drops and the large heart were all finger etched.

Painting Details: A figure in white wraps its many arms around a large, red heart that suspends in the sky. A black figure holds onto the heart with one hand. His heart is blue. He drops blue and purple rain onto dark green grass where a man sits with his hands together under a large face created by the heart and the arms of the female figure in white. Continue reading “Reach – Surreal Etching”

Cut in Stone

Cut in StoneA friend of mine, now gone, once said: “The most beautiful things come from the most foul manure.” I hope he’s right. I hope to one day grow past what is ugly into not just beauty but peace.

As stated in my bio, I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Multiple Personality Disorder. There are times when my mind races and is filled with flashbacks from times unsafe. I want to run from my own head. I panic. I call a friend and then I take to a few more coping skills such as painting.  Continue reading “Cut in Stone”

Dance of Dissonance

framed

By 4 am I was exhausted. My head was tired, full of noise that made no sense. At my threshold I got up from bed and walked 10 feet to my studio, pulled out a piece of paper and began to paint. I removed some of the surface paper for texture, scratched paint with a toothpick and smeared paint with all my fingers until finally the noise ceased. 

In the painting you’ll see a face outlined in black – eyes, nose, lips. While the face is hot with red and orange, the dreadlocks hang in blue and black. On the outskirts, into the white is yellow and the tiniest flicker of green.  Continue reading “Dance of Dissonance”

art is the reason I’m not crazy

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

Divided as a Whole SOLD

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”

Inner Swim

Inner Swim

The young girl sits with her legs crossed by a large koi. One finger touches the water, the other hand lays on her bronze and copper painted pants. Sand has been added to the pants as a symbol of stone. Beautiful, bright pink flowers grow in the garden. Her shirt is shredded fabric, linen pieces. The water wall behind her begins to take her in.

Art Title: Inner Swim
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Medium: Acrylic, Gel, Sand
Size: 11 × 14 inches on heavy board