so this is a trial and does it work

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Yes, the printers were visited back there in February but it all fell through.

Now,oh yes, NOW, there is real action going on , there are prints in our hands,Bella will sign and date them, then dear people, they will be available for purchase,more details to follow very soon, keep watching or email immediately for details.

News News News

The printer's have been visited and yes very soon people the unbelievably excellent quality reproductions of Bella's artistic works will be available for sale.Keep watching for more details.

The picture above is called " Looking " an appropiate title!

These words are a piece I once wrote to answer someone who was asking intrusive questions about Bella Mullen,someone who felt they had some 'right' to know 'more'.I came across it again yesterday and thought it is something always worth remembering when looking into any human beings activities, in short be grateful for what they have already put on offer.Enjoy.

" MORE "

To decide what to write here is difficult
not because there is so little to say
but because there is so much
that could be said
but to say it
just now
just here
wouldn't help.

I am presuming you have already looked at the pictures
more presumptiously I am presuming
you want to know " more " .

" More " is a concept that many
without thinking
accept as part & parcel of " knowing " an artist's work.
An artist
in any field
from gardening to dancing
from performing to painting
knows
it is the work itself
upon which attention should be concentrated.

Bella Mullen's work could be labelled :
Outsider ; Naive ;
Innocent ; Visionary;
Spiritual ; Surrealist ;
but any of these labels only suggest a part of her
works true identity.

You may well wonder :
why no portraits ; why no landscapes ;
why the stars ; why the connectivity ;
why the patterns ; why the dots ;
why such colours ; why such movement ;

I did.

The questions can, will & do,
just keep flowing
but the answers
are most directly & most beautifully found
purely by observing the pictures.

With time these paintings swell well beyond
the boundaries of the frame
within which they are held.

With time it becomes increasingly apparent
these are inspirational glimpses
into a dimension which only increases
for the rest of us
an awareness of such
ecstatic transcendent existence.

To want to know " more "
from someone who has already
so generously " given " so much
seems inappropiate.

The dedication evident in these works
increases our appreciation of their beauty
proportionately in ratio
with the level of our own input.

Simply put
the more we look the more we see
the more we see the more we can look.

As much " more "
as any of us could wish for
already exists within the paintings themselves
should we wish to look.

Interview With Bella Mullen

As I have mentioned earlier, the intention of these pages was to examine Bella Mullen's work in order that it's beauty may be more clearly seen.It was also mentioned earlier that an interview of sorts would be hopefully forthcoming.That moment has arrived, so just for the present the examination of " When Two Souls Meet" is being put on hold whilst we work through an interview with Bella which took place some years ago.It was originally on line under the title Thinking Soul Pictures.

Thinking Soul Pictures Part 1

To sit, ponder, watch, yes watch, for that too is possible, one of Bella Mullen’s paintings, is to enter a world, which may initially feel unfamiliar, but which very soon becomes not just familiar, but somehow, deeply personal in the same way as one’s own breath, own skin, own dreams are deeply personal.

The watching, oh yes to return to the watching, if you steady yourself, and look, the backgrounds, for they vary, become the foregrounds, and the images figures animals plants somersault into new ones and yet, and yet somehow, they remain the same, and all of this interchange-ability is interlocked, unified beyond or is it before a starlit, or is it dream-filled, sky?

Soon, as you look, you feel yourself being drawn upon some celestial journey, that before the moment you realised it, you were unaware you had begun. The fast following thought that rushes into consciousness is that this journey pictured, right here right now before your eyes, is but a reminder of something or somewhere that you had previously, perhaps always, known.

At this point, the interest level is expanding expediently, is that cat about to pounce or sit, is it’s tail raised in anticipation of coitus or just a relaxing stretch and the dolphin that swims beyond it, is it diving to the unknown depths or merely gaining impetus with which to leap as it does above? The questions puzzles interlocking images evolve into a phantasmagorical explosion of possibilities that rush into the eyes & urge the brain cells to respond & the faster they do the more the images cascade and soon one can feel the sense of wonderment of all that is happening before you.

The initially most striking aspect of any piece of Bella Mullen artwork in its totality is without doubt it’s sheer utter breathtaking uniqueness. Each piece of her work resonates with a vibration that is solely hers whilst at the same time conveying within it a universal appeal which transcends all barriers. A theory I have had verified by the rapturous remarks of approval from the divergent sources of my six and seven year old nieces, a number of university professors and an acclaimed octogenarian art critic!

Thinking Soul Pictures Part 2

The exuberance of the work was their initial thrill, followed by their amazement at “ the dots “. It was “the dots “ that I enquired of first when I visited Bella.


“ The dots against the night sky represent the stars and planets, the others refer to the idea of particles. Whole things consist of combinations of particles; worlds, stars, planets and parts of each of them are linked by particles. So the dots are meant to suggest the whole idea of worlds within worlds, the constant reality of the inter-connectedness between all things, seen and unseen, known and not yet known. They also of course have been linked artistically to human beings expression of themselves since they first felt the need to do so.”

Bella went on to explain how the dots also have an artistic purpose in that on an optical level they affect the impression made upon the retina by the base colour in a way that is significantly different than if the colours were mixed on the palette and then placed upon the canvas. This way the colours blend together in the eye producing a vibration which the retina has to rapidly adjust to due to the different colour rays it’s trying to assimilate, this vibration is then transmitted to the brain.

The whole impression given by the paintings is that whole worlds exist within each picture. These worlds are microcosms of the world at large, everything within them hints of it, plants alter into butterflies which in turn hold fishes within their wings and insects rise from their bodies and on and on it goes.

Thinking Soul Pictures Part 3


The revelation that Bella always painted with music playing came to light as she carefully led me through the process of how she works, it became apparent as the conversation continued that her most constant companions whilst she painted were Tim Booth/James, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie and Jimmy Cliff. It seemed a good point at which to ask what other influences she felt she had.

“ I’ve read widely, years ago it was the more modern literary classics,but in more recent times it’d have to be Plato, Paul Brunton, Aurobindo but many other varied things have also had their effect, as it is with anyone, what you see what you feel in everyday life, the daily passing of one day after another it’s important to keep sight of where you are and what’s happening around you, be awake, even if it means having to be aware of things you don’t like, being awake is a very important influence on me, you know in the sense of being aware. Life has its rainy days as much as it has sunny days that’s a truth that must be simply faced because it is real and anything else would be a mockery and the experience of life is far too precious to be wasted as some half hidden half experienced illusion.”

Thinking Soul Pictures Part 4
The overwhelming sensation of pleasure on seeing Bella Mullen’s work was equally entwined with the sense of intelligence and grace which pulsate from each picture. Her works are sensory statements full of abstract realities, the customary world is altered in favour of a more real world – not a world inhabited by those who lay down commandments and prohibitions but rather a spiritually enchanted world which thoughtful art in its truest sense should always be seeking to identify and fulfil.

In this respect Bella, like Rene Magritte, uses painting as an instrument of thinking and philosophical wisdom, as well as a means of recognition of the reality of universal unity. Her work simultaneously demonstrates to the eye and the intellect the uncertain character of everything making up the realm of the visible whilst maintaining the fundamental of universal unity.

To fully perceive Bella Mullen’s work it is essential to understand that Art does not take up a meaning already inherent in reality, but quite the reverse, it is Art which conveys meaning and deeper understanding upon reality by opening up previously undreamt of paths which present life with new horizons, indeed Thinking Soul Pictures.

As mentioned in an earlier post, it is intended to examine the delicacy of Bella's art work and in order to achieve this it is necessary to highlight certain areas of the paintings so that the beauty of them may be more fully seen. In this example I have highlighted the central middle section of 'When Two Souls Meet'.As you can see there is a tremendous amount of activity in the work that initially goes un-noticed when first viewing the image on-line, by this I mean that in the original, with it's larger size, it is possible to see the intricate work, a gem like quality, that exists in each work, but unfortuately is a quality of image issue when viewed full scale on-line.

It is now much easier to see in this detail: the plants; water; butterfly; fish; and the intricate 'dotting' that is such a major characteristic of Bella Mullen's work.Examine the detailed piece and then return to the full scale image below and you will be able to appreciate much more the amount of work and intensity that resonates from this piece of beautiful work.

This is the first of Bella's paintings to be posted here.

This is a painting entitled " When Two Souls Meet".
The original measures 21" x 13", is acrylic on board and was painted in 1999.

This image shows the complete picture, although the colouring is not 100% accurate to the original, due to having been taken under flash condtions.

In the next posting we will look at the image in greater detail so that the technique utilised by Bella Mullen can be seen more clearly.

This site is dedicated to the visionary artistic works of Bella Mullen.

It is intended to post here various works and to examine in greater detail the pictures which Bella Mullen has painted.

There will also in time become available various pieces of background information and detail with regard to the work of Bella Mullen.

Please feel free to add your comments as the blog progresses.