Ever noticed the hundreds of smiley faces graffitied on buildings, the back of road signs, guardrails, power boxes, reservoirs, bridges and bus shelters around Tasmania?<\/p>\n
They appear everywhere and are known by a host of names such as smileys, Dougals, ghosties, potato heads, happy worms and hobs.<\/p>\n
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The smileys take many names and many forms. (Supplied: HobGraffiti)<\/p>\n
The man who painted most of them is George*, who started doing it two and a half years ago and thinks of them as a simple way to spread joy. He says people do not greet each other enough.<\/p>\n
The genesis of George’s passion for street art can be traced to what he describes as his “Mecca” while growing up \u2014 the legal graffiti and art wall at Launceston’s skate park.<\/p>\n
“I always liked the colours, patterns and skill used in those pieces,” he says.<\/p>\n
I’d always wanted to do something myself but never a word \u2026 I wanted to have something a bit silly, lighthearted and simple.”<\/p>\n
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George started painting the smileys two and a half years ago. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n
One afternoon George drew his character growing out of the ground on a power pole opposite a house he used to rent.<\/p>\n
Admiring it, he asked his housemate what they should call it and he replied, “Dougal”, and thus they were born.<\/p>\n
“They started off long and skinny and then they became wider and filled in with more detail as time went on,” George says.<\/p>\n
As for just the smileys on the back of signs, George isn’t the only one doing them.<\/p>\n
“There are a whole lot of people doing those, they’re not all me \u2026 but allegedly, most of them would be,” he says.<\/p>\n
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George is not the only one spray-painting smileys in Tasmania. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
One of the common names for the figures is ‘Hobs’ after someone started an Instagram page, Hobgraffiti, displaying George’s street art, highlighting how prolific they were becoming in every corner of the state.<\/p>\n
“Wherever I go on my missions, constantly exploring Tassie, there’s so much to see and I think it’s a beautiful thing,” George says.<\/p>\n
“If a friend sees something you’ve left then that sparks a memory of you and it is just like a little positive thing to put into the ether.<\/p>\n
“I’m slowly covering Tasmania one spot at a time.”<\/p>\n
George describes his graffiti as a “positive thing”. (Supplied: HobGraffiti)<\/p>\n
Tagging a heritage-listed building<\/p>\n
“I always saw this wall and wanted to hit it,” George says as he points up to a black and white smiley painted on the side of the two-storey Hobart CBD building.<\/p>\n
“I climbed around the back and then had to slide down the little brick part and find a spot to safely do it and get out of there,” he says.<\/p>\n
The year of the building’s construction, 1920, is emblazoned on the front of the building.<\/p>\n
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The Elizabeth Street building is over 100 years old. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n
When pressed on whether he had considered the heritage aspect before tagging the building, George says he “didn’t realise” and he would prefer not to tag those buildings.<\/p>\n
“It was just in the moment. I just had that bug and was like, ‘This spot is going to be epic’,” he says.<\/p>\n
“Then, a couple weeks later a friend told me it was heritage listed and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a bummer’, but life goes on.”<\/p>\n
Corey Bygraves, the general manager of Kalis Group, which manages the building, is disappointed by the tag.<\/p>\n