Quiet Repose February 4, 2010

Not all is bedlam.

Just down the street from the Bedlam Bar was this nice little park with stone stalagmites. Very natural looking; the moss was sometimes bog-like.

Lots of old old memories of times past, this final resting places for mortals.

Whenever I paint in a cemetery I put out a warm welcome to the silence surrounding me, so just in case when I get the chills running up my spine, or hairs standing up on the back of my neck, I won't feel like I should skedaddle!

It's a great place to commune with spirit, and hear the stories.

Bedlam Bar Feb 2, 2010

The Bedlam bar was up and running; in full swing. It was the Buzz of London.
We'd just returned from a journey to Gheel, Belgium, where we'd gone on a successful trip to retrieve the relics of St. Dymphna, (the patron saint of Mental illness).
Along with relics we brought back some orbs, which graced our pictures in the Cathedral of St. Amand, as well in this upstairs room of Bedlam.

The bar was packed; it was Jazz night. I got the urge to paint, so I grabbed my easel and paint box and ran across Heath Street to set up and paint this painting of the Bedlam Bar under the full moon. If one looks closely, they can see the image of the mural painted inside the building behind the bar; of The Royal Betheleham Mental Hospital. It was painted in florescent paint.

The figure in the window is none other than Eringer (the mysterious) appearing like Anthony Perkin's Mother in the window of the mansion above the Bates Hotel in the movie, "Psycho".

In this case, Life imitated Art...

Bedlam Under a Full Moon 8x5, oil/panel
Pvt. Collection

The Howler Feb, 1, 2010

Since it is the Full Wolf Moon, I shall continue with my Moon-Themed Madness.

This is an image I painted for the Bedlam Bar in Hampstead Heath, London, owned by my friend Robert Eringer [mystery be upon him]. The content of this painting says it all. It was originally painted on a 14x11 canvas, but someone slightly askew took a razor blade to it and sliced it up--for some unknown reason. It is now this new...shape...

Never, NEVER, give sharp objects to the mentally unstable! Anyway, Whenever the full moon comes around this is how I feel; I just want to HOWL!

The Bar/Restaurant Bedlam, named after the first mental hospital in England; the "Royal Bethlehem Hospital for the Mentally Insane". The Bedlam Bar was created to celebrate creativity and madness, with art and artists, music and tasty treats designed to bring out the avaunt guard and over the edge personalities so prevalent in English culture.

When it was in existence, the Bedlam Bar was a great place to stop and stay, in transition to our various odyssey destinations;like Iceland, Gheel, Belgium, Arles, Figuerez, and Sils Maria. It was like a quick trip to a mental institution; where you could be entertained by the inmates, (or become one yourself). Or just find the muse out on a whim. Amusing lunacy.

"Every Night was a Full Moon at the Bedlam Bar".