Abstract Intuitive art vs planned composition

can we trust our instincts when we make art?

According to wikipedia, ‘Intuitive decision-making can be described as the process by which information acquired through associated learning and stored in long-term memory is accessed unconsciously to form the basis of a judgment or decision.”

I find this really interesting in the context of the way I coach my art students and in the way that I create my own art. Discussions along the way about composition in abstract art do not become “rules”, rather, they become a language that somehow is stored somewhere in our brains and is “accessed unconsciously” when we are working on our pieces. That is not the full story though. There is another component. That is what is it that resonates with us. That is different for everybody. Some people gravitate towards bright colors and some towards more muted colors, some to dark hues and some to light, some to simple and some to complex…

So can we let go when we are creating and TRUST that our unconscious mind has a language that can emerge when we are not trying to control it? This takes some practice. That is why I often start our classes and even in our corporate art workshops, with a guided mindful meditation, designed to quieten the mind and allow our intuition to guide our practice.

In the video below, you will see how I create this first stage collage/mixed media piece totally intuitively, without too much thought and judgment.