Mandala for The Psychedelic Shop
Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco
In 1965-66 I was drawing various mandalas as a way to express the experiences some of us were having. This one was drawn on a large art tablet using a single Rapidograph pen and black India ink. When it was finished I had a few copies printed at a shop that printed blueprints. At the same time one of my friends, Ron Thelin, along with his brother Jay opened the Psychedelic Shop on Haight Street in 1966-67. This eventually caused the Haight-Ashbury area to unfold where it did.
I gave one of the original prints of this mandala to Jay and he immediately adopted it as the default logo for the shop. He had many copies printed (you can see in the photo several on the walls of the store) and he also reproduced it on a very large metal button for people to wear.
The Mandala on the metal button, made as a giveaway for The Psychedelic Shop, created by Ron Thelin. Notice the burn marks since this one survived the shop fire.
—Courtesy of Kira Thelin
Ron and Jay Thelin on Haight Street in San Francisco, outside The Psychedelic Shop
Oct. 20, 1967: The Psychedelic Shop in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francsicso during its last day of business. The shop was owned by Jay Thelin and his brother, Ron, and popular during the Summer of Love.
— Stan Creighton/The Chronicle
I kept the original along with a few prints for many years however they were eventually lost in a house fire. Strangely, a fire at the Psychedelic Shop destroyed whatever copies remained there. Only a couple of the metal buttons survived. I thought all versions of this mandala had been lost until years later I found a couple prints which I had given to a family member still existed. Sadly they were damaged and in poor quality. Nevertheless I had one digitally scanned and used it as a starting point to rescue and restore the artwork to its original quality. So now I have been able to print a limited edition on archival paper and offer them to collectors of 60’s memorabilia as a fine art print.
Each one comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Kira Thelin who is the surviving daughter of Ron and Marsha Thelin. Kira was a little kid when all this took place, yet she remembers it well.
—Stephen Samuels