We had the good fortune of connecting with Lynn Doyal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lynn, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
There are three things; fostering a spiritual belief, having a loving marriage, and financial discipline. Having a personal spiritual life is essential because my children saw me praying, seeking God, and having accountability in being their parent. Since I was accountable to God it helped me see when I had unrealistic expectations of them, or when I became angry over inconsequential things. In many instances my child may have indeed been wrong, thoughtless or irresponsible, but I could also be wrong in how I handled things. Accountability before God allowed me to sincerely apologize to my children when I did something wrong or thoughtless. It also made a difference in their confidence to question me about my ways and thoughts. Sometimes I had answers and other times I didn’t but they knew there were never any barriers to asking questions. As my children are now adults, there are many things we do not see eye to eye on, but they have reasons for the positions they take and the thoughts that guide them. Best of all, they are OK if not every question has an immediate answer. They trust that time and experience will reveal what needs to be revealed. Second is that I have a loving marriage. Our children knew (because we told them) that we loved them but that they were second. My children saw us work on our marriage. They saw when we argued and when we disagreed with each other. They also saw regular displays of affection between my spouse and I and they saw us laugh together – a lot. We very seldom said a negative word about each other and sought to do things to make the other person’s life easier. We thanked each other a lot and regularly noticed little things. We modeled what it took to have a loving and successful relationship and marriage; mutual respect, a desire to think of the other person first, and how to deal with conflict and disagreement without needing to be right. No one does this perfectly and we were/are no exception, but our kids saw us try and they knew we were committed to each other and as children I think they felt secure. As adults they know what makes relationships and marriages work for the long haul. The most frequent source of conflict in most relationships is money – even the relationship you have with yourself! We taught our children to live within their means and to be charitable. No loans (except for a USED car and mortgage), no carrying credit card balances, no newer models of the same thing. All our children graduated college with no debt. This was because they went to colleges that we could afford or that provided them with scholarships in combination with what we could afford. Charitable giving was also stressed because it displays gratitude and thanks for what you have regardless of how much or how little. You can always give of your time and finances to those less fortunate than you. When the children were young they felt very deprived when we would go out to dinner and we would not let them order soda with their meals. Our preference was to balance going out to dinner with not going overboard, which for us was the expense of soda! Now as adults our children have grown into the understanding of balance – not deprivation – when it comes to their finances. They understand from experience how much sweeter it is to have that “thing” when you have planned, waited, and saved. Each of our children has also experienced carrying some credit card debit (as did I when I was younger) and how much of a weight it is. In each case it was only several hundred dollars which they managed to pay off rather quickly, but they experienced how restricted choices become when you have to manage debt. The only time debt is acceptable is when it comes to medical expenses that are an emergency. Given all the things that are demanded of us to have successful relationships, not having the pressure of financial debt makes other decisions freer and clearer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work is colorful, graphic, and created with intricate detail. It is a delightful marriage of contemporary design with a reverence for the techniques of the past. My images are created using acrylic paint, hand stitched beads and thread, and Photoshop and are created to be digitized and output on a very large scale. When produced on a large scale, the handcrafted details are seen in a most abstract, fun and funky way. The result is something unique, unexpected, and fun for the viewer each time the work is encountered. The art of creating images for enlargement is an art within an art. I know the colors and treatments that make my work photograph well for enlargement. I have been creating my work and digitizing it for larger output for over 8 years. I use several local photographers who know my work and how to light it and capture an image that will yield optimum clarity when enlarged to yield a three dimensional visual experience. While I have been an artist for many years, I am an emerging artist within the realm of Public Art. It has taken me 5 years and over 300 applications for commissions and last year I received my first public art commission due to be installed April 2020! I am very proud of this accomplishment. It was not easy, but it wasn’t hard either. It required my persistence combined with a Public Art Committee willing to take a chance on an artist with no public art experience. Even that isn’t quite true as I apprentice for an established public artist (4 years) and volunteer in the administrative offices of Art in Public Places, Palm Beach County (also for 4 years). It is similar to a person applying for their first job. The employer wants someone with experience, and if you are applying for your first job you don’t have experience! It takes the combination of your skills and tenacity with the employer seeing something in you and being willing to take that risk. This is true in getting commissioned to create artwork for the public. The Public Art Committee and the Public Art Administrator want to be sure they commission someone who knows what they are doing. I am in the process of trying to secure more and larger commissions so that I have a resume of many successful projects at varying budgets. So . . . . I just keep developing my skills and knowledge, keep applying to projects for which I know I can be successful, and I wait, which is always the hardest part. I love my creations and so do other people that see them so I believe that my countless rejections are due to my lack of documented experience and not the quality, sensation, and enjoyment of my artwork. If you have the opportunity to do what brings you joy, do it. Don’t let the rejection (or perceived rejection) of others keep you from trying to make your dream a reality. Always be learning. Always be ready. Never stop trying.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is an extraordinary museum in an equally extraordinary location. You can combine this with the Wynwood arts area in Miami for a complete day and evening of art, eating, and people watching. I would suggest the PAMM by day and Wynwood by evening. I also enjoy the Boardwalk in Deerfield Beach. Not as popular as many places in South Florida but it is really nice to walk and look at the water. The Arts Garage in Delray Beach is a nice venue for music, plays, and other arts events. It is big enough to get the synergy of other folks but small enough to be intimate.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shout out to: – My husband Thomas Doyal for his support in every way – Catherine Woods, Artist – Elayna Toby Singer, Administrator for Art in Public Places, Palm Beach County – Lisa Pincever my close friend – The Bible

Website: www.MixedMediaByLynn.com
Facebook: Lynn M Doyal

Image Credits
Photograpy: Custom Photo Images, Boca Raton Atlantik Art & Framing, Boca Raton