Home is Where the Art Is

“I feel we all need beauty in our lives,” said Joan Doyle, a Montrose local who has dubbed herself The House Artist. She creates watercolor portrait and house paintings that celebrate homes and the people who live there. Her talents have been commissioned by proud homeowners, their family members and real estate agents.

Home is a concept that holds great significance for this artist. “I am very attached to my home place,” said Doyle, who grew up in a small town in Ireland.

Doyle does her paintings in watercolor, a medium that delights her as she watches the colors wash over and seep into the paper. “It does its own thing sometimes,” she said, and that lack of rigid control as she is painting is what she enjoys. A quick look at Ms. Doyle’s artwork will show that the colors she uses somehow always seem to end up in just the right places.

Previously, Doyle’s career included graphic design, animation, and artistic special effects. She credits her special effects experience as playing an important role in her artistic development, and she loves to work with light and shadows to create dappled images full of life.

Doyle’s favorite part of working with clients is their passion for their homes. “I love that they love their house... I just love when anybody loves anything because it feels like they’re really alive,” she said.

Even a quick encounter with Doyle reveals that she is as full of life as her beautiful artwork. She enjoys living in Montrose because she can walk through the town past many of the delightful, old-time shops that give this little piece of Glendale its special, hometown feel.

While much of her current work has been painting the outside of homes, Doyle also paints people. Portraits are her way of capturing a moment in a life and showing the beauty in the moments. She also creates stunning collages full of paintings and memorabilia that bring the moments of a life together as a piece of art.

When she is not creating artwork, Doyle spends time as a spiritual counselor helping people discover the love and beauty that is available to them in their life. 

So, what would be Doyle’s dream home? “A nice, safe place to be in a beautiful setting,” she said. Well, I’m sure that anywhere that Ms. Doyle hangs both her artwork and her brushes will be full of beauty.