Remnants. Art. Seeing.

I’m getting ready to start physical therapy here at home to help some of the healing along due to recent falls. I’m pleased it’s at home. I told the doctor I’m not able to tolerate going to a center for physical therapy because of the setup. There’s too much public activity, noise, movement and touch, for me to be able to think straight and not panic.

The painting shown is still being worked on. It’s one of my collages, which I have found myself drawn to lately. I’ve got many pieces of this and that saved art piece that on their own doesn’t work but added to other cut outs, makes a great piece of art.

This is very indicative of how I’ve been feeling. In my head, I see myself as fractured and torn, both physically and mentally. It feels good to take the remnants of my art pieces (pieces of me) and make something good come out of the broken pieces. It’s similar to what the Japanese do when putting pieces of a broken bowl back together with gold. My goal is to improve self esteem. I also enjoy it.

General updates

  • Soon iI’ll know a decision from my insurance about a new Jazzy Pride electric wheelchair.
  • Joe just turned 14. It makes me a little nervous. His only issue is from the stroke. He doesn’t see as well.
  • Joe is still very much a service cat. He still alerts me to my blood pressure dropping too low.
  • I learned to make sour cream from my homemade yogurt. I’m growing my own ginger and turmeric inside. This growing season I’ll do spinach and salad greens with grow lights. The point of all this homemade stuff is to shave some off my grocery bill.
  • My OCD has been raging but I’ve been able to challenge it. Things go terribly if my thinking is too disordered and I’m overly stimulated. When that happens I have to go on an apology tour.
  • Dissociation and switching has occurred regularly, including switching while my nurse and CNA are here.
  • I’ve been able to paint as before with no real issues. There’s one painting in my Etsy shop.

Another physical change has taken place that affects my art. I can’t see! Dang it! I have to wear glasses to read or see anything in front of me, including my dinner plate. I can see far away, though. I need to see the eye doctor soon for prescription glasses. For now I’ve got bifocals from Amazon. I like them. Life is easier all around with bifocals.

Interesting is that it feels weird painting through glasses. It feels like I now have a physical barrier between me and what I’m creating. It feels like I’ve got my hands through the holes of a glass panel trying to paint or sew on the other side of the window.

Another new tool at home is this comfy Kaftan. I’m obsessed! I also like that I found an Etsy taylor with prettier dresses for the same price. I’m looking to get two more by this summer.

Kaftan’s are user friendly for disabled people with incontinence. I have spastic bladder as a result of the Thrombectomy surgery, which means I have to change depends several times a day. The last thing I want is to take my pants off several times a day because I need to change depends.

These dresses are fun and they are sooo me! I think I’m loving my Oprah glasses and Kaftans. I have one pink, white and green tie dye and one blue, gray, black and white tie dye. Totally me.

Faith / Joan

Gratitude: Relief

While learning to live in a COVID world, I’ve begun to venture out and meet new people. I met a woman who was in the segregated south and was living in the thick of historic moments many only read about.

I’m grateful for the loyal love and patience shown to me at this pivotal moment in my life.

My friends love me enough to want to rescue me. They love me enough not to, but to instead walk with me or offer guidance.

I’m grateful for personal acupuncture and vagus nerve therapies. Some of the therapies associated with my ears have stopped panic attacks within one minute. I wear an adjustable helix or daith cuff (ear cuff) to assist with pain management.

I purchased a Trigger Point Stimulator Tool which I highly recommend. It’s been helpful in relaxing neck and side muscles. Sciatica be gone! The one I purchased explains that there are “two crystals inside will create a small electrical stimulus that mimics acupuncture and helps release trapped energy.”

I have enjoyed more peace of mind as of late than I have in a long time. Peace of mind and happiness are not a constant state of being, instead an accumulation of moments.

I’m grateful for plants. I so love plants! They help me focus my thoughts and do something positive with my anxious energy.

Joe has turned out to be a wonderful service animal. I had to look it up if cats can detect and alert illness because it sounds so strange but, three times Joe has loudly demanded that I wake up.

The other day was the 3rd time he insisted loudly, with screeching, that I wake up. I knew what he was doing so I sat on the edge of the bed. I used my rescue inhaler then took all my vitals.

From Senior Cat Wellness

Long story short, he woke me while I was having an asthma attack with terribly low blood pressure and very fast heart rate. When my sitting heart rate went above 106, Joe began to alert me with that horrible screech.

To prevent me from going anywhere, Joe parked himself behind the wheel of the wheelchair and refused to move. He was clearly focused on me with huge, huge pupils.

Begging for ice-cream

When I had to use the restroom I carefully got in the chair. Joe walked beside the chair all the way to the restroom as if he was escorting me. Maybe an hour later I was so tired that I had to sleep. I felt comfortable sleeping bc Joe was watching over me.

Joe with a paw on my leg

How on earth did I score a senior cat who can naturally detect pulmonary issues? I couldn’t be more grateful.

Faith

A Joe Schmoe Update

As Joe Schmoe recovers he’s getting away with murder. LOL This furry, green eyed boy seriously rules me.

Joe prefers the right side of the bed, well that’s also the side I want to sleep on. If he’s already sleeping there I won’t move him I’ll just sigh and grumble as I sleep on the left. If he’s sleeping comfortably on the blanket I’ll wait for him to get up.

When I was making all sorts of concessions and adjustments for the boy I knew then I’m wrapped around his paw, tightly.

I can get wrapped up in the blankets like a burrito hugging a pillow, but my zen moment will be interrupt by his paws walking across my back and over my head. He’ll ignore 3 other pillows just to try to fit himself in the crook of my arm hugging the pillow. Several times I’ve given him that pillow and hugged another only to have him find a way to be part of the moment. Lol

Joe, the Sundrip studio cat, is definitely improving since his stroke. He was so…. absent for awhile….. physically alive yet absent. It’s a relief to see his personality come out.

Joe is back to

  • thinking his food bowl is empty bc he ate a hole in the middle and he can now see the bottom of the bowl.
  • to standing half hidden behind a curtain in some creepy stalker way, observing me from a far, as I use the restroom.
  • Resumed his hobby of bombing Zoom meetings
  • and critiquing my art. He takes his job as studio cat very seriously.
Joe – Sundrip Studio Cat

I figure he’s going eventually going to be 100%.

My hard lesson has been learned.

Faith – Joe’s mom

Betta Sorority Aquarium

My cat Joey suffers from dry skin and needed a humidifier to add moisture to the air. I decided to do an aquarium set up instead of an ugly humidifier.

My favorite spot is the apartment

In order to get the aquarium I sold off 4 of my small aquariums then snagged the 20 gallon long with heater, rocks and a filter on the side. I kept a three gallon aquarium gift given to me. 😁 That has a female Betta in it, too. I like the females a lot better because males seem to be drama queens.

The new aquarium isn’t finished. I need more submerged plants. I’m not sure when that will happen but for now it’s got Pothos and Bamboo stalks on top, as you can see. I’m just going to add some Crypts and Java Ferns then leave it alone. I’ll have 7 female Betta only.

Betta Sorority Aquarium

So, that is my newest muse, a Betta Sorority that acts as a humidifier for my fur baby Joe.

Faith

Hope Bear Goes Home

The Hope Tea Cat found a new home in Southern Indiana.

The person that adopted the kitty cat said her apartment complex doesn’t allow cats, so she adopted a stuffed cat with a pink heart nose and a little green checkered dress.

Safe travels little bear.

Hope Cat - availableKitty cat plush ornament, shelf sitter
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Media: Naturally stained cotton tea bag, poly plush, fabric for arms, fabric paint, rope tail
Size: 6 x 3 inches
Finish: No sealants, heat dried, unscented
Style: Primitive Handmade, Ornament (Hope sign for display only. Hope sign has been sold.)

On sale now are all items in the shop and items in my Available Art Galleries displayed on my website.
Use coupon code ArtForArtSale17 for 25% off your total purchase until August 4th, 2017. You can purchase through PayPal or Etsy.
I return all international shipping above $1.
Etsy shop

Faith

Hummingbird Abstract. Rich. Watercolor.

IHummingbird - available‘m still working with different types of abstract. I did this while watching a video. I like the loose colors.

I’ve also been working with my palette knives but I thought it best to work in gesso for texture then add color over it later if desired. I’ve got a full gallon on gesso which I love working with.

Art Title: Abstract Hummingbird
Art by: Faith Magdalene Austin
Media: Watercolor on 98lb artists paper
Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Finish: unsealed, signed on the front and back, unmounted
Style: Abstract, Nature

I’ve got an art sale going on for the Fang Fund, for Mary Jane’s much needed dental work. Use the following code at check out. If you desire to use PayPal instead of Etsy please let me know and I’ll create an invoice with the discount. All contact information is on the sidebar.

*** SALE ——— FangFund16 coupon code 35% off ——— SALE ***

Funds needed for her dental work started off at $250. The need is now $159.00. Thank you for your donations and purchases that stay in PayPal until all is raised to meet her need, then I’ll stop begging. You can fully expect more intense begging as March draws near. I’m watching my baby in pain and it’s difficult. I swear that’s not a guilt trip, it’s just the truth, I’m watching this girl hurt and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it….other than paint and paint is what I’m doing. Continue reading “Hummingbird Abstract. Rich. Watercolor.”

My Pink Cat. Tea. Water Phobia Day 1

Jane gets a bath today. Thank goodness for the Maine Coon in her or I’d need medical attention after. She still has all her claws and a fang. She does just fine with water. No fighting, no death threats or plans to assassinate me later…It’s quick and simple. I dry her with an extra fluffy towel, brush her a bit then let her go.

She sulks some after she’s seen her beautiful fur flat against her body in rat style. That’s when I get the look, you’ve ruined my fur. I trusted you!!!! Look at me. I look like a rat. Just cause you have bad hair doesn’t mean I have to…. She grooms in a panic but still looks like a rat-cat thing, then she goes to sleep. That’s how bath day has always been for little Jane.

Now that I’ve written it all out it seems like a lot of work. Maybe I’ll just take a nap.

Continue reading “My Pink Cat. Tea. Water Phobia Day 1”

Mary Jane and the “Fang Fund”

Mary Jane needs another extractions. Her other fang needs to come out and other teeth need to be cared for.

One photo shows her with a fang already removed, the second photo is of my old cat on an old chair with an old soft toy and an old blanket.

As forward as it is, I want to say that any art sales from here on will go to the “Fang Fund” which needs $250.00. I will update the monetary need and I will continue to make art available in the following locations.

Need is now $211


*Available Art” galleries here on Sundrip

Etsy www.sundrip.etsy.com.

If you would like to donate even a buck you may send that donation to my PayPal email address at SundripJournals@gmail.com.

(Please do not make purchases from Redbubble as I will not receive funds in time to meet Mary Jane’s needs)

When the $250 has been raised through sales and/or donations, I  remove the note for need. $50 of the needed funds is what I currently owe the vet. $200 is for the full dental work and the other extraction.

Mary Jane is 16 years old and in good health, except for her teeth. She is in a lot of pain, pain I didn’t realize was there until the emergency vet visit the other day.
Thank you,
Faith

Redbubble Children’s Gallery

Redbubble is currently offering free standard shipping to United States for all orders over US$40.00. As of 9/24/17 this offer is still available.

Here are a few of the images in the children’s gallery that you can take advantage of with the Redbubble free shipping promotion.

Thank you for considering a Sundrip art piece for your home.

Faith Magdalene Austin

Inspiration for the painting ‘Father and Child’

The inspiration came from a photo of me with a kitten called Grace. We napped on the sofa together and a friend took a photo. That photo inspired the painting Father and Child.

Sometimes art isn’t all that deep. It doesn’t come from a secret hurt or a wound without a cure. It’s just art, such is Father and Child. Available only on Redbubble.

Grace and Austin

“Father and Child” was created with my computer mouse, stroke by stroke. They’re laying together in a sea shell of sorts and covered with royal garments. They sleep outside under a perfect sky with trees native to their home. As they hold hands they share this peaceful moment. The original post with close up photos can be seen by clicking this link on Sundrip.

Faith