Memphis-based abstract painter Hamlett Dobbins creates paintings full of colour, pattern and movement, each beginning with a small, everyday memory of whole-body pleasure. Breaking those moments into shape, rhythm and colour, he returns to them in the studio again and again. In this conversation, Hamlett explores how an experience becomes an artwork, the role of drawing, and why finding your voice may begin with paying attention.
Small moments can carry a whole body of work. Hamlett has made around 20 paintings from a single memory, asking each time whether it was the colour, texture or temperature that moved him. You’ll see how breaking an experience into parts can turn feeling into abstraction.
Strip an image back to find its colour. Turning a meaningful photo into large pixels leaves only its colours behind, a simple exercise for moving from observation to abstraction.
Plan so you can savour the making. Hamlett does his inventive thinking in collage maquettes, freeing his limited studio time to be slow and enjoyable.
Give your drawing permission to play. His drawings on printed sketchbook scans show how fast, judgment-free making can uncover shapes beyond your usual defaults.
Your voice lives in what you keep noticing. Finding your visual language may be less about searching for something new and more about paying attention to what you can’t stop looking at.
During the live interview, we shared some images of Hamlett’s artwork. Since you’re listening to the podcast version, we’ve made these images available for you below.
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