Following the Clues - The Power of the Subconscious Mind

Something remarkable has been happening recently. My paintings are beginning to assign themselves to poems.

Take my current series for example. Recently, blue started to creep into the work. At first it was just a touch of blue to contrast with warm rich tones. But then it started to take over the paintings … more and more of the work seemed to want to be blue.  At first I assumed it was because I had been reading October Dawn, a poem about winter setting in. I also assumed that the actual setting in of winter around me was also a key factor.

But as I continued to work with this new palette, I heard a whisper – faint at first but definitely there:

“Pibroch,” it said.

Then louder … “Pibroch.”

Stepping back, I saw it. Yes, Pibroch is the poem that inspired these paintings. I had listened to Ted Hughes reading it a few weeks earlier and I had played the recording several times. And even though my conscious mind had subsequently forgotten the poem, my sub-conscious was churning it over and making connections with colours and shapes. So that when I began to paint, the poem informed every colour choice, every brush stroke, every pencil scribble.

The same thing happened last month with “Hawk in the Rain.” The paintings simply appeared and it was when I stepped back and decided they were finished, that I heard the poem in my head and knew what they were about.

I find this both remarkable and at the same time, unsurprising. Our subconscious mind knows so much more than our thinking mind. And it’s prompted me to consider the role of each in the painting process. I believe almost all true creativity pours from the subconscious. And if I am right, we must find ways to open that up as much as possible. The magic will happen if we create the right conditions.

And then – when the magic has happened – we can start to apply the conscious mind to edit and refine. We determine what we want to keep and what can be discarded so that we can honour message and clarify our point.

I think so much stilted, dull and disappointing art is the result of giving the conscious mind more credit than it deserves, of allowing it to run the show when it should actually be just following behind and cleaning up after the main act.