"Everybody's pretending to be normal

Every person is exalted

Every person deserves to see their crown

Their name written in flames halo zone light-laced roads

We know our way home

Negotiating forests, streams, cities and more

We tell each other how to get there

We only choose when we do not know

High time for you to see us waiting for you

All that trouble behind us

Fallen snow."

— Jon Hamblin

The materials an artist chooses to work with speak volumes about the artist.

Jon Hamblin chooses to work on weathered, corrugated roofing metal that has been discarded. On the wavy, dented and often punctured surfaces he paints figures, animals and flora in bright oil enamel colors. His words and poetry (although he doesn't think of himself as a poet) float through and around the simple, almost child-like images he paints, adding a prophetic depth. It's a visual contradiction, and it's a bright, new and meaningful life for an old roof.

Inspired by a mobile childhood in Haiti, New York City, the Mojave Desert and Kaua'i, Hamblin admits he borrows images from other cultures, constantly. His artwork has a primitive, folk quality; it's lively and colorful.

"Man Talk Cloud" is an exhibit of 26 paintings and 21 cutout galvanized metal robots and animals — all new works. In an uncharacteristic way, Hamblin focused on the positive aspects of life for this body of work. In a previous exhibit, "Zone of No Forgiveness" at the Contemporary Museum, he focused on the negative aspects. "It's much harder to be positive than to be negative," he says. "The trouble with being positive is it's just so easy to come across as a greeting card."

Hamblin has been teaching art at Mid-Pacific Institute for 23 years. He graduated from the University of Hawai'i in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1984, and has been showing his paintings and prints in Hawai'i since 1982.

I spoke with Hamblin at the Hawai'i Pacific University Art Gallery about his new work.

Q. What does "Man Talk Cloud" mean? Where does the idea come from?

A. I was writing in my sketchbook. It's the leading edge of my new ideas. In my mind, there was this man standing there, and he was Man Talk Cloud, addressing aspects of our lives or existence in a way that is not of this plane. This is someplace where you're able to express things about who you are, what your life is, what your perceptions are, what you've learned, and not necessarily in a way the words are or our words work. It's a nonexistent place. But the moment I was sketching it out, it was like Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." At that moment I felt that, in that space, I could address all things, all places, and all times for all people. But of course, it didn't last long. Words there were directly to the point. You know, we all talk with words, and there's nothing like somebody telling you something with 150 words with 150 different directions around what they mean. Whereas when I was in this space, no matter what you said, it would directly relate to every existence you were talking about.

Q. Do you think of yourself as a poet?

A. I'm guilty of taking poetry classes in my university days. We learned about the sound of the words — about how a poem has to work when it's spoken and when it's read. We have images and words that ring. These are words that were written first thing in the morning before the sun came up or just as it was coming up. I like them. I mean, this is just a gallery of self-indulgence by Jon Hamblin. These are all kinds of different parts of the sky inside myself that I happen to be looking at.

Q. Do the robots have any specific meaning in this show?

A. The first ones I did were cut-out figures with an electric saber saw. It was very painstaking, and I didn't think much of them. I gave them to a gallery that was approached by the television show "Lost," and I was told they appeared in a kid's room scene. So, rather than cutting them out completely this time, I cut pieces of metal and pop-riveted them together. The galvanized steel patterns are like another world, so pretty. These pieces are from an old house that was torn down. I usually draw figures with wavy lines. The Man Talk Cloud concept was somehow about simplifying things. So the idea of robots was part of that — simplifying the figure to simple geometric lines. I don't want to sound like I'm deep here. I have the depth of a Kleenex.

Q. You mentioned that you didn't do art for a long time before this show. Why?

A. I do shows, and it's sort of like breaking up with a woman. You have this relationship, and when it ends, you just don't want to date for a while. That's sort of how I am with art. I live it, and it takes over my life — other than when I'm sleeping or working. It's real demanding, and no matter what you do, it's never enough. You give everything you have to it, and then when it's finished, and you finally have the show up, you just don't do art for a while. The term "artist" is secondary to doing art or not doing art. That's the whole thing. Sometimes I do art and sometimes I don't. I have this incredible capacity for doing absolutely nothing. It's kind of embarrassing and frightening.

Q. How do you discipline yourself to do artwork for a show like this when you also work a full-time job?

A. I live alone and wake up at 4:30 or 5 a.m. I paint for an hour or two before I go to work. These were all done listening to music on my headphones and drinking my coffee. My mind was very clear, fresh and spontaneous. A lot of these words are words that I write in my sketchbook. The figures come from my sketchbook, too. I use an Artograph and project the image onto the metal. Otherwise, it's hard to draw on this undulated, pounded metal surface. The words are almost verbatim from my sketchbooks — from when the muse was visiting. I can't turn it on or off. When it happens, it happens.

Q. Do you carry a sketchbook with you all the time? Have you thought about exhibiting them?

A. Not really, but I have a stack of 11-inch by 14-inch hardbound sketchbooks going back to 1979.

No, I haven't thought of exhibiting them, but I've thought about donating them after I'm dead.

Q. What kind of music do you listen to when you're painting?

A. An eclectic mix of blues, jazz and pop. I'm always buying used CDs. I have hundreds of them.

Q. What advice do you give your students about expressing themselves artistically?

A. Art is something that belongs to everybody. Doing art is like walking or breathing. We all have it. Everybody has to strike out on his or her own. Suspend your cynicism or your questioning a little bit. If you are willing to do that, then so many things are possible in the way you see the world. A good work of art should be a self-contained bio-system.

Victoria Gail-White has been writing art reviews for The Advertiser since 2001. She is a fiber artist, teacher and former art gallery owner.