Michael Doyle
About Michael:
Michael Doyle is a self-taught visual artist, born and living in Seattle. He began by showing his artwork in bookstores, shoe shops, coffee shops, galleries, and church basements. Classic films, memoirs and forest walks are favorite forms of inspiration, creating a feeling of nostalgia and curiosity that can be found in his paintings. Michael’s studio came together naturally as a way to share his creative practice and to create a storytelling with his paintings.
“When my art enters the realm of correspondence it starts to become a collaboration, making you the author and me the illustrator, an idea I find very exciting.”
Grand Image: How did you get your start in art?
MD: My start began when I was a kid. I’m a little neurodiverse, so I focused on art instead of everything else. And creating just flew out of me- it feels like I have I always drawn, and like I have always painted.
Next, I studied and focused on photography. But even while I was photographing, I was still designing, making cards, and more. Then I dated a photographer, and that took the magic out of photography.
Finally, I did some drawings for a friend for her clothing line. I ended up taking those drawings and put them up at a shop for an Art Walk. That was 20 years ago, and I have never looked back.
Grand Image: Where are you from and how is that reflected in your work?
MD: I am from Seattle, and I think that's really reflective in my work. I'm really inspired by the landscape. I loved growing up by the water and having parks all around me.
I was and still am an outdoorsy kid. Natural scenes and elements are a huge part of my work. If I do plants, they're normally indigenous to the area. I love living here in Seattle and being connected to the art community. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
Grand Image: How has your relationship with art changed the way you view the world?
MD: Art puts me in the world. Sometimes I can be a little reclusive. But creating, painting, and making is my connection to the world. Without artwork, I think I would be very confused as to what my role would be on the planet and how to interact with it. Art gives me a purpose and helps me connect to people.
Grand Image: How do you balance giving space for creativity while meeting deadlines and consistently producing new work?
MD: This is definitely a double-edged sword, and something I’m sure all artists struggle with. For me personally, I love deadlines. Deadlines help me to create and provide structure in my mind. I can be a horrible procrastinator and I try not to carry that into my work.
I’ll be going into an artist residency this winter with the sole intent of exploring ideas without producing work. This will be an interesting new journey for me and maybe will challenge my ideas of production and deadlines. For me, production is something I am still figuring out and working on.
Grand Image: Do you stay up to date on trends? Why or why not?
MD: I like trends, I think they're interesting. I love Pinterest and Instagram. Plus, I think that my work is more interesting in a retail environment than it would ever be in a fine art environment because it feels more human that way.
Even though trends are fun, I make sure to create space between them and a new body of work. Regardless of inspiration, I want my work to feel original (even though I know that nothing is really original).
Another way I keep up with trends is by looking through art magazines. I love seeing what other people are doing. If you take me to an art museum, I will probably end up in gift shop rather than the actual museum. I find them to be interesting and fun.
Grand Image: Your work is infused with a sense of whimsy and joy. Does this speak to your personality or the environment you surround yourself with?
MD: My art creates an environment that I get to safely inhabit. It is full of things that (somewhat selfishly) make me smile. I like looking at things that are friendly.
Personally, I feel like I’m a bit of a cranky curmudgeon. My work is a kind of wink and nod to something that feels nostalgic, like a childhood illustration. Nostalgic spaces are slower and friendlier, and I like to surround myself in that. My studio is full of my work. Even my phone screensaver is my artwork. I find it so gratifying that other people enjoy the work I create just for me and my own joy.
Grand Image: What is your current source of inspiration?
MD: Inspiration is a funny thing- it seems to come from everywhere. I’m not necessarily inspired by the artworks of others that looks like mine. Right now I’m really into abstract art, as something I aspire to that isn’t necessarily my work.
For a while I have been pulling inspiration from older books, especially fiction. I just finished a biography on the Bloomsbury group and felt drawn to Vanessa Bell and her sister Virginia Woolf. It’s hard not to feel inspired by any outsiders in history that have created their own reality, like Andy Warhol’s factory. The 80’s art scene has been in my mind for a long time and I’m always actively seeking new ideas.
Grand Image: What is your favorite piece or series you’ve created and why is it your favorite?
MD: My favorite series I’ve created is a collection called Winking Passage. It was during COVID and was the result of falling into a depression from the pandemic effects.
When COVID started, I got really ambitious. I had all of these plans to make tons and tons of work, and when I wasn’t able to produce on the level I wanted I started crashing. Even today I still have stacks of half finished artwork.
So I started creating these small, simple paintings that I could sit down and paint in an hour. They were supposed to be exercises, just abstract shapes. And they were these little winks to get me through what I was going.
By the end it changed my art practice completely. My friend saw the work and she hung it up at her shop fruitsuper. I ended up loving how they all looked together. All of the pieces sold out immediately. I have never had a response to a show like that. I think the buyers connected with the work because they could feel that the artworks really helped me. I will never have an experience like that again, and I love that.
Grand Image: What does your artwork say about you as a person?
MD: I don't know what it says about me. That’s what's nice about artwork, it just sort of speaks for itself.
My art is curious. My art likes a bit of mystery, a bit of humor. I suppose those are all me- I love mysteries, I love things that make me smile. My work is always going somewhere and changing, and I guess that’s something that I’m doing too, whether or not I like it.
Grand Image: What artists inspire you? What do you like about them?
HP: I'm really lucky that I’m inspired by so many different media. It's really fun to see how those trickle into my work. One of my favorite inspirations is film. I love movies. And for me, Fellini is a huge inspiration. He is a master of magic realism and mysticism and modernism. I never get tired of looking at his films and seeing how current and modern and fresh and exciting they are, even though they were made 50 plus years ago.
I love writers too. I paint a lot of pictures of authors or book covers. I think that the life of the writer is really romantic and interesting. One of my favorite authors is Donna Tartt. Her books are these epic adventures that take her 10 years each.
Reading creates so many visuals in my head that trickle into my work. I recently got back into Quentin Blake’s work (who illustrated Roald Dahl’s books). Those books are my first memories of being mesmerized by illustrations. They're so sloppy and loose and alive. When I see them I just wanted to scribble away. It's neat that my first inspiration as a kid is still growing and inspiring me today.
Grand Image: If you could have your artwork hung anywhere in the world, where would you like that to be and why?
MD: I love when my work is hung at homes, so I think that having my work in some of my favorite authors’ homes would be an honor. Another dream would be to have my work as a New Yorker cover. I feel that, much like a lot of artists, my family doesn't understand exactly what I do. I think if they saw my work on the cover of something that they read they would “get it.” I also have a Dutch writer and chef I love- Yvette van Boven. She has one of my paintings featured in a shot of her cooking in her cookbook “Home Made Basics.” Finding that connection really excited me.
Lastly, my true favorite place to have my artwork hung is with my friends’ artworks in group shows. Maybe that’s a boring answer but that's been the most exciting for me. I love hanging out with my friends and just feeling how lucky I am that I have so many friends that paint.
Grand Image: What is your favorite way to implement self-care?
MD: By paying for it. I recently got a trainer, and I have appointments, and that's the only way that I'm ever going to exercise. I can't ever be late because I hate being late.
I also started meditating by taking a meditating course. I wish that I was a self-motivated self-carer. I tend to kick self-care to the curb the second I get busy.
Grand Image: What advice would you give someone starting out as an artist?
MD: The most important thing is just create your work.
Make your work, don't stop making your work. Inspiration will never come. I'm never inspired to work on something. I'm inspired to think about working. Create structure around making sure that you're creating your work. And that is hard! Consult people who are artists for help. Sometimes I trap inspiration by cleaning my studio, and once my brushes are moving, I am ready to create.
I really like to nail down the mythology behind art. But ideas are not special and following through with an idea is harder than you think. I will get so many ideas about my next show, and if I get one or two finished paintings out of 15 ideas, I'm doing good.
A lot of people think they’re not artists, but everyone is an artist. There are lots of different art forms. You need to call yourself an artist and just create. Carve out time for your artwork- it is worth it.