LEWISTON — If you’re a fan of Charlie Hewitt’s art, you’ve no doubt wondered about his process.

At the end of the month, the Maine MILL museum means to satisfy that very curiosity.

Visitors will see the sketches, the rough copies, the inspirations that have driven the 79-year-old Lewiston native to create wonders for more than 60 years, including the neon “Hopeful” sign that has adorned Lewiston’s Bates Mill No. 5 since 2019.

The exhibit, titled “Drawn in Light,” will open Jan. 30 and feature not just Hewitt’s artwork, but the doodles he scribbled while engaged in the process of creating them and the written comments he has made about each piece.

And of course, the exhibit it will feature Hewitt himself talking about it. It’s work that Maine Mill Director Rachel Ferrante describes as “playful, provocative pieces that light up the space with humor, wit and sharp observation.”

It turns out that Hewitt has a lot to say on the subject as well. With times changing and technology always advancing, he forever searches for new mediums through which he can express himself.

The doodles will always be a part of the process.

“I’m a printmaker,” Hewitt says. “I’m a sculptor. I like ceramics. I’m a painter. I’ve always done that kind of thing. But what I realized is that I’m also a compulsive doodler. I doodle all the time. I have 24 years worth of calendars with doodles everywhere.”

The doodles are important, Hewitt is clear on that. Doodles help pave the way for greater creation.

So with that in mind, Ferrante and her crew have set up a wall at the back of the exhibit where visitors will be encouraged to add their own doodles with provided Sharpies. Hewitt may weigh in on some of those doodles with his singular eye for art.

He’s an old-school artist, Hewitt is, but at the same time, he’s not bound to any particular age. He rolls with the times and keeps up with changes in the way that art is made.

“As the world changes and technology advances,” Hewitt says, “I’m curious at how that could somehow interact with my discipline.”

At the exhibit, a large TV screen will display some of Hewitt’s digital art pieces, with AI-driven animations. Hewitt describes this kind of work as taking the insignificant and elevating it to an art form, or what is called “High-Low” in art circles.

Hewitt considers his “Hopeful” NeoKraft signs, which now number in the dozens across a handful of states, as street art rather than as museum pieces, for instance. In Lewiston, the sign that went up on the Bates Mill No. 5 on Main Street, facing traffic coming in from Auburn, has been celebrated since day one. People still stop to take pictures of the sign, and those pictures appear frequently on social media.

But as Hewitt comes back to his hometown to talk about his work, he is also keenly aware that Lewiston has been facing troubled times. He hopes that maybe by people getting together to talk art and doodles and whatever else comes up, it will provide at least temporary relief from the stress and strain of the times.

“I’m glad to be able to bring this kind of work up there,” he says, “and I think people will get a kick out of it.”

The opening of “Drawn in Light” will be held Friday, Jan. 30, from 5-7 p.m. More information can be found at mainemill.org.

Maine MLL, the Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor, is at 35 Canal St. in the Bates Mill Historic District.