The Ariel Lome Painting

(1975)

5' x 6', acrylic on formica-board

This was my masterpiece painting. It culminated over a decade of psychedelic art work that I had done, not very many paintings but a lot of drawings. The amazing thing about psychedelic art was that for the first time in Western history, psychedelic art was being produced. Psychedelic art had been produced in several ancient civilizations, notably the Tibet Buddhist art work, the Indian temple bas-reliefs, and Mayan cartoons. Psychedelic art remains the only art movement that bridges not only cultures but times as well. It is ironic that the Psychedelic Art Movement is the only art movement in the world that was stopped from public viewing due to the onus of illegal drugs although lately (2022) psychedelics are getting positive press as mental health remedies and losing the prohibited drug reputation.

While we psychedelic artists were bringing in a marvel of psychedelic imagery and imagination bridging continents and eras, galleries were pushing Pop Art because they didn't have to explain to their customers why their artists were being sent away to prison for possession of mind-expanding drugs.. If only people knew how much mind-altering drugs played in the creation of masterpieces the world takes for granted.

See more of my artwork in the Kushstone Gallery page. And see how my Ariel Lome painting was transformed into Ariel Salome after the painting suffered damage in 1999 when the bolt holding it worked loose and the painting fell against a dresser and smashed a hole in it.