When Eloise Freeman found her son, who was about 4, drawing pictures on a window shade, she stood back, studied what she saw and instead of scolding him told his father, “Dumont, go to town and get this child some paint. He’s got talent.”

Hobbs Freeman, who was the child, cringed when his mother told that story, but Eloise was the first of many to realize that her son was very talented.

Art was only one of his many loves — there were rocks with holes in them, plants — especially succulents, bright colors and autumn hues, classical music and old-time country, Sacred Harp singing, genealogy, history — and building things.

Born in Fayette in 1943, Hobbs spent many of his 65 years in creating objets d’art in a variety of forms. He painted in oils and water colors, created fountains and gardens, learned to blow glass and even did one wood carving, but his favorite medium was copper. He got interested in it when he was a student at Memphis College of Art where he was a student and later an instructor.

It was the colors in the glazes of pots he threw that grabbed his attention. He wanted to put those same colors on metal, especially copper, and to many of his pieces he added enameling, which is glass ground to the consistency of fine sand.

Some of Hobbs’ designs might have been whimsical but many were based on nature’s creations. It’s said that no two snowflakes are alike, and that can also be applied to rattan and grape vines.

And so it was with Hobbs’ art, for no two of his creations were ever alike. He often borrowed designs from nature for whatever he was creating.

Gloria Christiansen of Edwards said it best in her column in the Hinds County Gazette: “God gifted the hands of Hobbs Freeman. They could create whatever his mind could imagine.”

He loved to grow things, and the gardens he made were often in a woodsey environment with meandering paths and old-timey or heirloom plants. He possessed the legendary green thumb.

In his gardens he always included the sound of falling water. Perhaps his finest fountain was one he made for John Leigh and Dee Hyland. It’s 10 feet tall in an iron caldron about 6 feet in diameter, all on top of a cylindrical brick foundation about 5 feet high. It’s a giant bouquet filled with plants, all of copper — but not just any plants: each is a re-creation of flora that grows wild on the Hyland’s Loosa Yokena Plantation.

Mariam Jabour wrote in The Vicksburg Post, “He understood the beauty in nature, really communed with it, for his inspiration.”

It might take a while for him to get around to working on a commissioned piece, but after mulling the ideas he would sometimes work all day and night, the result being something absolutely exquisite. As Janice Sutton in Mountain View, Ark., said, “You never rush an artist.”

He was thoughtful, always concerned about others, especially encouraging young artists. On his birthday, he always gave his mother a present. When he was 6 he decided to decorate one of her hats for Easter. No telling what it looked like, but Eloise proudly wore it to services at the Fayette Methodist Church.

Hobbs was public-spirited, took on tasks without being asked. When he saw something that needed doing, he did it. Before he moved to Warren County in the 1990s, he personally took care of the Confederate Memorial Park and monument in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse.

In Warren County he became active in several organizations. The hill where the Old Court House stands was just that — a hill with grass and a few trees. Along with Walter May, Dee Hyland and Sonny Rule, he turned Court Square into one of the prettiest settings in town. You’ll find his gardening talents also at the Fire House Gallery and the Southern Cultural Heritage Center.

Hobbs also had an abiding faith, but he never had to tell anyone, for his religion was evident in his concern for others, never expecting or wanting any notice, any thanks. He was christened in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South — joked that he never united with anyone. He was always in attendance at Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church, but he also worked on the grounds and the building, contributed generously, but was content to remain on the books of the Methodist Church. His pastor, Elder Charles Holden, called him “The best member we don’t have. I just call him my Primitive Methodist.”

To Sarah Johnson, “Hobbs understood that every living thing is a resurrection of something that once died and came to life again, changed and altered by God’s providence through its seasonal journey. He honored the earth out of which new life germinated, sprouts, develops, blooms and grows. He knew that life and death are partners in the transforming circle of life.”

For Lesley Silver, “He brought the outside into our souls and allowed us to look through his eyes. He brought magic to the ordinary and he brought a new way of seeing to all of us.”

Hobbs died June 17, 2009, of pancreatic cancer, but he’s remembered in different ways by his many friends. It might be a piece of art, or maybe helping him restore two old graveyards, perhaps having contributed to an art scholarship in his honor. There’s the memorial to him among the gardens at the Old Court House, or perhaps it’s just a memory as expressed by Vin Steponaitis of North Carolina: “Talented, perceptive, entertaining, and, above all, kind.”

To Charlie Mitchell, “Hobbs’ greatest legacy will be his art in all forms, diverse and deceptively simple in appearance. His ability to take cast-off items and reveal their beauty is something all of his friends admired.”

Jean Blue, while appreciating his art and talents, remembers Hobbs for things not tangible – “Always generous of spirit and gracious in friendships — but always Hobbs — nothing more, nothing less. Authentic to the core.”

Often Hobbs hosted anthropology students from the University of Alabama, and they gave his place a new name — Campbell’s Swamp University. One graduate, Tom Lewis, who lives in Georgia, vows to keep Hobbs’ memory alive “In whatever small way I can. I’m going to tell stories, share the laughs, and brag on how lucky I am to have known him.”

Not to be forgotten is Hobbs’ sense of humor and his love to laugh, to tell stories and to dance. Lillie Lovette remembers when they were dancing at the Balfour Ball when she noticed a full-figured lady with a dress too small who was sporting a rose tattoed on her bosom. She asked Hobbs had he noticed, and he replied, “Girl, I’ve seen the whole bouquet.”

All have their special memories of Hobbs, and Tony Boudreaux, a CSU grad who now teaches in North Carolina, recalls his last visit. It was to the caroling in the chapel in 2008, and then the party at my house. Tony and his wife, Christy, had said their goodbyes and left only to realize a coat had been left. Not wanting to go through the goodbyes all over again, Tony slipped back into the house and later wrote, “Before I stepped outside for good, I stopped for a brief moment to admire Hobbs in all his glory. He was in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace in the kitchen with a high-ball in one hand and a circle of people surrounding him. He was telling a story as only Hobbs could, and the circle of people was appropriately entertained. Hobbs was absolutely in his element. I slipped outside without being noticed, and this was the last time I ever saw him … There will never be another like him … I’m very grateful for the last memory I have of him.”

Sarah Johnson spoke for many when she said, “He left such a generous legacy of beauty and kindness. He continues to be present in the transforming places and spaces he designed, built, planted, and nurtured.”

For me, Hobbs will always be here. I see his talent and handiwork and ideas everywhere. He’ll always be laughing and dancing and joking, creating beauty in many forms, always singing, telling a story (Have you heard the one about Miss Tootie Green?), maybe imbibing a bit.

He’ll always be with us.

If you go

The Hobbs Freeman Arts and Nature Celebration and Festival honoring the life and work of Hobbs Freeman continues through Nov. 3.

The Hobbs Freeman Exhibit, in the parlor of the former Sisters of Mercy convent in the Southern Cultural Heritage Center, opens with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday and will remain on display through March 30. After the reception, tours of the exhibit are by appointment only by calling the SCHC at 601-631-2997. Tours are free.

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Gordon Cotton is an author and historian who lives in Vicksburg.