Like many who have spoken, I too found your room sanctuary. It’s been a long time now since I’ve been there. College being what it is, you leave and never want to come back. But if there is once place I most go often back to in my memories, it is that room. Here was where I first learnt to see. One of the first things you asked us was to look into the face of the person next to us and tell you what we saw. After many failed attempts of trying to give you the answer, you getting very frustrated, you finally told us. Black you said, you stare at the blackness of their pupil of one eye! It didn’t seem that important back then. Like you telling us that art is work, and not just based on emotion. Some things you only understand with experience, but you did try to warn us! I remember you whistling now, you could whistle a whole song and yes always a cup in hand. You had an idea what was art and we tried to see it your way. You weren’t the easiest teacher, not by far, but you weren’t here to be our best buddy, you were here to teach us, whether we liked it or not! For that I will be always thankful. I adored the fact that you hated uniforms, said what was the point when we got them covered in paint! It was impractical! We agreed wholeheartedly, especially the girls! (Tunics algh!) Pity the school never listened… Something that has travelled with me all these years, is the feeling I got when you opened the classroom in the holidays in my 5th form year, and we just spent the whole day doing art. We had our headphones on, we left and came back when we needed to, just us and our art, it’s something that I have loved forever and made me realise how important art is to me. Thankyou Mr Dobson, for you passion and for igniting mine, again and again, years down the track and forever. Rest in Peace, your work here is done.
Mr D I remember when I had to take a naughty boy to your class and you had a great sense of humor. I remember you talking to us year nines about option art and one of my three options that I have chosen Is art, not only because of my passion for art (its a family thing) but so you could be my teacher. Im still looking foward to option art, but now only half as much. R.I.P Mr D
WE WILL MISS YOU! ---,{@
Mr Dobson, you were a true joy to be around, you were the best teacher that ever taught me. You will be missed so much...I will miss the way you kept telling Hayley and Me to "shut up!" and threatened to seperate the pair of us, i'll miss the comments you made on our work...good comments and bad ones lol. I will miss your catchy whistling and the way you always had a cup of tea with you. I will miss the way you and i talked about England and the places where we grew up and how crap it is. lol. I will never forget the things i learnt and the name you gave me...The Manic Depressive Who's Always Smiling And Laughing......And i will remember that one lesson when you told people what flower they would be, you called me a english white rose...Why?...."because i'm so god damn PALE!" lol.
I will miss you Mr Dobson. Birkenhaed College will not be the same without you.
....It sounds really childish and immature, but it's so unfair how you're gone! I miss you so much already. I heard the news on Sat, but I still went to school on Sunday to see if the workshop was still on and it had all been some kind of sick joke. It was so sad walking up to the door, and looking into the window to see no one there. When I go into your office I'm still a little afraid, as to me it was your place alone and it just seemed wrong to be in there amongst all that carefully organised and extremely dusty stuff. I remember in the first year you had me, you told me about that artist who left everything so there was a layer of dust 2-inch thick and that you were trying to do the same.
That first day back in the art room was almost unbearable, but all the art people around really helped and even though I just wnated to throw away that stupid last painting, I kept going. I know you would've wanted us to get a good mark and you probably think it's silly to waste precious study time crying over you (but I can't help it). It's funny, cos now I just want to keep working on that painting (but I did stop, as I remember you scolding lucky for not being 'happy with good').
It annoys me so much that I never got to ask your opinion on my last work. I was going to ask when I was finished...I hope you like it.
That grey haired builder I saw outside the art room got my hopes up as from a distance I thought for a second it was you. Everytime someone opens that door...
I had so much to learn from you Mr Dobson, but maybe I've still learnt a little from your death. Miss you heaps, have fun up there. Cos we're all miserable down here.
