William Arkle, Philosopher, Artist And Mentor
- Il Mio Salotto
- Jan 20, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 21, 2023
Who Was William Arkle?
William Arkle was an English painter, esoteric philosopher and composer born in 1924. He died in October 2000. He has been described as following in the footsteps of William Blake. Blake (1757-1827) was a poet, painter and visionary, perhaps most famous for his book entitled ‘Songs Of Innocence And Experience’.
William Arkle was honoured with an exhibition of 20 of his paintings at the first ‘Mind Body Spirit’ festival in 1977 and he was featured in a BBC television documentary that same year. Further accolades followed over the years and, among others, King Charles owns one of his paintings.
But to me he was ‘Bill’ and I had no idea who he was when I started corresponding with him.
Encountering William Arkle
It all began back in 1997 when I was spreading my wings with my spiritual artwork and writing. I spent hours devouring books and looking at other people’s artwork. I filled notebook after notebook with my ideas and diagrams trying to explain what I understood. Or maybe just trying to understand what I was thinking. But I felt I needed some specific guidance that I never quite found. I got pieces of the puzzle but had big gaps that I wanted to explore but didn’t know how.
Then, much to my delight, it was advertised that there would be a local talk by a spiritual artist called William Arkle. I had never heard of him but his bio for the event piqued my interest, and everything in me said I had to go and listen to him. I booked my place and was very excited about attending. But the event was cancelled (I can’t remember why now, it was a long time ago) and the organiser said it wouldn’t be rescheduled. Seeing my disappointment, the organiser offered to forward a letter from me to ‘Mr Arkle’ if I so wished.
This was a handwritten letter, what we call snail mail today. In it, I wrote about why I had been excited to attend, a bit about me and my work and asking if he would be giving another talk that I could attend.
Corresponding With ‘Bill’
After a while, much to my delight, I got a letter from Bill. And that started a correspondence between us that I very much valued and I got the impression he enjoyed too. He said he would not be giving another talk but was happy to exchange thoughts. We communicated, by letter, every five/six months or so for a couple of years. I wrote when I had something I wanted to explore with him and he generously sent me long replies.
Bill was an empathic and generous teacher. His letters were long, four to five foolscap pages of his handwriting. Every time one arrived through my post box I was like a child at Christmas. The letters could be read on so many different levels. I went back over them again and again. After a while, he asked for some photographs of my paintings which I duly sent him. And he gave me a critique of the ones that particularly caught his eye and his understanding of what I was trying to portray – normally spot on. But he would also enlarge on the subject and express his own philosophy which I found both stimulating and fascinating. I learned so much about how we view art on so many different levels, a subject I explored in an earlier article. (Suggest link to my last article here Do You See What I See?).
The Great Gift
Bill sent me a copy of his book ‘The Great Gift’ which was wonderful as I could see so many things I had tried to find a way to express that he managed with ease. His paintings could be studied for what they were, letting the image wash over you and sink in at whatever level you were open to. But there were explanations too, of what he intended with the paintings and these were equally fascinating.
The book also contained some essays, poetry and an incredible letter entitled ‘Letter From A Father’, written as if by the Creator or Mother/Father God.
Poetry
His poetry struck a chord with me. For example, this one is called ‘Of My Heart’.
Daylight tells the secret of my heart
alighting here on earth and you
wider than my reason or your sky.
No sigh can tell of tears
that fall from me
into your stormy sea.
No hand is close enough to mine
so fondly regard it
and stand not distantly
talking of my anger
or your penitence.
Though you think distantly
I see most perfectly
and wonder where our love can be
and why you never talk to me.
I sent Bill some of my own poetry which he received and responded to in the same kind, mentoring way he had my paintings. He understood the need to express what I was feeling, or perhaps I should say driven to put down on paper or canvas. And he taught me to set aside my personality and allow my ‘divinity and creativity’ to just flow through me. He talked about how, at the time of writing, he was trying to capture the essence of flowers in his work.
Learning By VHS Tape
Bill sent me VHS video tapes, sending one to me when he thought I was ready, that explored his philosophies in more detail. He warned me that some people found them heavy going and gave up with them. He said he was sorry that some people couldn’t cope with them but he never knew who he was making them for. But I loved them. It suited my learning style more to watch and listen rather than read. I wrote copious notes and made diagrams of what he explained. There were three VHS tapes making up six chapters of what he called ‘The Soul’.
Other Writing
What I didn’t know, and we never explored, were Bill’s other writings. Books I now have in my collection that I came across long after his death. Much more detailed and complicated philosophical and theosophical explorations such as in ‘A Geography Of Consciousness’ and ‘The Hologram And Mind’.
Music
At one time, Bill mentioned that he wrote music, in the context that I had said it was possible to hear and ‘see’ music and he was delighted with that and wanted to explore it further with me as an idea.
Bill Lives On In His Work And Our Memories
Long after Bill’s death, I met my husband. I commented on a spiritual book he was writing and he commissioned me to produce a spiritual painting to front his website. He then helped me to publish my own small book of writing and paintings called ‘The Journey’, which I dedicated to Bill (For Bill, who helped me find my gift). But, interestingly, my new husband is a great fan of a group called The Enid. And I discovered that The Enid had collaborated with Bill, in 1986, to record some of his music. And it was like things had come a full circle and I could imagine Bill smiling at what was never really a coincidence.
To get to know our artist-writer Dorothy better and see some of her artwork, visit her website at https://dorothyberryloundart.com/
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