“You have two kinds of boys born in 1970: Lego boys and Lincoln Log boys.”
Hamlett Dobbins, a passionate painter from rural Tennessee, coins himself a Lego boy. Dobbins began playing with Legos in 1977, right when Star Wars came out.
“I would always be building the Millennium Falcon or an X-wing fighter or a sand speeder,” Dobbins said.
It wasn’t until much later in life, however, that Dobbins realized these Lego creations were his gateway to art and expression.
The common factor between Legos and painting is the act of building.
“By building something with your own hands you become a part of it, you get to connect with something greater than yourself,” Dobbins said.
Painting is a form of communication, not only with the self but also with others. It is an outlet and a way to personally connect with the world.
“Connecting with the world could be a number of different things,” Dobbins said. “When I have a tea party on my back porch with my little girl and the light hits her hair in a certain way, or if I stay up too late drinking whiskey and eating Tater Tots with an abrasive friend – these are the things that make life worth living.”
Dobbins explained that his style is hard to put into words. “As a teacher,” he said, “I will sometimes tell my students to sit still and close their eyes. I ask them to imagine going into a room filled with the art that you want to see most in the world. Then I tell them to make it.”
Everything about painting relates back to expression. In Dobbins’s case, painting helps him understand why and how he relates to these specific moments of inspiration, “every moment contains the powerful impact of something pure and raw.”
The outcome of the final product contains the explanation; that is when brilliance is truly visible.
Dobbins’s art exhibit opens at the University Museum on Nov. 12.
Titled “The Wellspring: Works by Hamlett Dobbins,” the exhibit will include a number of untitled paintings followed by a series of initials, M.R.M for his daughter and I.V. for his son. Most of the paintings in the show are from his personal stash that he does not plan to sell. Each painting represents a different and specific experience with his children.
“The show is called ‘The Wellspring’ because they are an endless source of inspiration for me as a person and as an artist,” Dobbins said.
— Gilly Dreyer
