The Happy Valley Filling Station will exhibit paintings by Mary Miller Dobbin and Doug Miller from July 2 through September, 2025.
Located at # 1275 Highway 268 seven miles north of Lenoir, The Filling Station is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Mary Dobbin grew up in Lenoir. She began to draw and paint in elementary school and continued studying art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BFA) and later as a graduate student at Pratt Institute (MFA) in Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to painting, Mary started teaching art to both children and adults using encouragement as a primary motivator. As an instructor, she has taught locally at Caldwell Community College, Western Piedmont Community College and Appalachian State University. Additionally, Mary has led art workshops in western North Carolina. A professional highlight was studying at the Arts Students League in New York City with the wonderful instructors and fellow artists there.
Mary primarily paints still life subjects, people and landscapes. She likes to use rich color and experiment with different approaches to underpainting.
Doug Miller also grew up in Lenoir. He and Mary Miller are first cousins. Doug explains “My artistic endeavors were focused primarily on music, thanks to Captain Harper and his wondrous (Lenoir High School) Band. I subsequently trained as a professional musician but simultaneously enjoyed painting since my teenage years. My love of painting surely arose from the many similarities art shares with music-making.”
“One of my chief inspirations has been the painting career of my cousin Mary. We were fortunate to have studied in New York at the same time, myself at Manhattan School of Music and Mary at Pratt Institute. I proudly attended Mary’s first exhibition at Pratt. My early paintings were mostly portraits of my musical idols, but when I moved back to the mountains in 1979, I naturally began to explore landscape painting and the natural beauty of the area. During the last few years, my color palette has seemed to mysteriously drift toward monochromatism. Whatever the reason, It seems to regularly drift back into color with the approach of each summer. I am hanging a variety of paintings at the Filling Station and I’m very honored to have been invited to exhibit beside Mary’s extraordinary works. “
Doug was a Professor of Clarinet for 43 years at the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University.
A reception will be held for both artists on Wednesday, July 16 from 5 to 7pm at the Happy Valley Filling Station. The public is invited to attend.
