SUB-CONSCIOUS WORK

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 88, 14 April 1930, Page 11

SUB-CONSCIOUS WORK

"The Post's" Auckland correspondent telegraphs that an artist/named W. H. Atkinson was for some time a resident of Wellington, where he suddenly developed an extraordinary faculty for drawing automatic pictures, and supposedly under spiritual influences. Although he had never received any lessons in drawing or design, he is said to have produced subconsciously most unusual drawings, and ho also wroteautomatically while he was in the same condition. He was a man of fine physique, and was a professional football player before he came to New Zealand, having played for Sheffield United in Association competitions. He was a resident of Sheffield, where he- was omployed by the firm of Sir Bobort Hadfield. Coming to the Dominion he took a position in Wellington, and after he had been a short time there he commenced to draw subconsciously. He did not go in a trance, but was said to bo ablo to execute drawings without watching his hand or the paper. Most of his subjects were antique objects, such as early Roman galleys and warships. Only rarely did he reproduce modern objects. At first he was worried by this power, which he did not attribute to spiritualistic influences, and he consulted a 'doctor. He then came to Auckland, where he submitted a number of drawings to Mr. A. J. C. Fisher, of the Elam School of Art. It was on Mr. Fisher's advice that ho returned to England. Prior to ihis departure several firms had given him commercial work to execute, and this ho had been ablo to do, using conscious effort successfully, altlsough he had no knowledge of design. These drawings, it is stated, were not comparable to the unusual results he produced when he worked automatically. In a recent letter to Mr. Fisher, Mr. Atkinson said he had met Sir A. Conan. Doyle, who had told him he believed ho was working under the influence of some dead artist. Mr. Atkinson sneered at this theory, and had always refuted the idea of spiritualism while he was in Now Zealand. However, he had never advanced any theory to account for the sudden development of his powers. At the time of the letter to Mr. Fisher ho was working as an artist in a studio in Bond street, London.