Traveler

Traveler by fma

What will you see in this ethnic, surreal painting? Ah, gold poppies, red poppies, a fisherman in traditional clothing reaching to the sun, an Asian woman in a white dress with a small orange patch whose arms reach down yet they branch out as bare trees. Beside her is a face within a face. Flowers grow, swirls spring out, color abounds then rests. Continue reading “Traveler”

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”

The Stream Carried Wonderment and Joy

The Stream Carried Wonderment and JoyThis painting is on of the very first collages I’ve created and thought good enough to post. The tall, elongated woman with her face divided by cream and blue stands with her eyes closed taking in everything. The secure and at peace woman stands with her feet in the stream and allows joy and wonderment into her life. There is no struggle, no working against the tide. She takes it all in and is entirely in the moment.

Her hair is adorned with flowers. Her dress is yellow at the top with two butterfly cut outs. The butterfly details also appear at the side of her skirt. The remaining cut outs are small flowers made from hand dyed coffee filter cut outs. Food coloring was used to stain the coffee filter cut outs. The painting has been sealed with a matte acrylic seal.  Continue reading “The Stream Carried Wonderment and Joy”

Sage: a Queen on Her Throne

Sage - On Her Throne

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”

She is the Wind

Sheh is the Wind fmaShe is the Wind’ is primarily a finger painting. The blue hair and the hills as well as the larger parts of the tree were created with my fingers. Details were added with other tools.

The large figure is searching for a part of herself that is missing. She and the warrior that blows in her blue hair, into a white sky, will search and bring her home. Behind the white tree she sees her, weary, cold, wrapped in hills of colors under a burning sky. She has found her. Continue reading “She is the Wind”

Let Her Fly

Let Her Fly This piece was created in one night. I took the paper that already had sawdust prepped on it and I began adding shapes and colors.  My goal was to manage some heavy Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms I was having.

I thought to myself, I want to go to sleep, but I can’t. I just kept painting. Painting what? At first I didn’t know but as I focused I knew I wanted a woman in a thick field of flowers with her hair wild in the breeze. I kept painting. Her face was divided, half gold, half multi-colored. Her eyes look up or roll up to the sky. Black birds flutter in some areas but soar in others. Their wings are out strong and high, no hesitation, no fear of flying. There are 8 black birds in all. They’re in the sky, her hair, on her white chest and in the flowers below. Continue reading “Let Her Fly”

Gentle Peace a tea bag painting

Gentle Peace- SOLDI started this painting off with tea stains that I then painted in. I placed my reusable tea bag on the paper and left it there a few minutes. I moved it around here and there to leave spots and images. Once I was satisfied with the shapes I began to bring out the young girl who sits on top of the world.

Art title: Gentle Peace SOLD
Art by. F. Magdalene Austin
Size: 9×6 inches on heavyweight paper, art journal piece
Medium: Acrylic, ink, Indian tea, Caylon black

Continue reading “Gentle Peace a tea bag painting”

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”

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”