I met Joe in 1978 on Sutter St in San Francisco. He was walking a picket line in front of the Academy of Art. After classes resumed Joe gave an impassioned critique in a large well-lighted studio. His tirade wasn’t leveled at some unsuspecting student. It was against the way art was now being taught. Willing to bite the hand that paid him, he named names and called out culprits. He said, you can’t teach a studio full of students how to paint. You need to work in some type of apprenticeship like they did during the Renaissance.  

At break I followed him over to the coffee shop and stood by the door. He saw me as he left and nodded politely. Nervous I blurted, “...do you need an apprentice?” Surprised, he said, “you know, I might.” For the next 2 and a half years I was Joe’s studio apprentice when he lived and worked in downtown Oakland. After I left we stayed in touch. An occasional lunch. A ballgame at Candlestick Park. The wedding at Mills. Then life became complicated and we fell out of touch. Our last conversation was several years ago. We made plans to have lunch in Berkeley. For reasons I can’t remember that lunch never happened.

Today is July 12th, some 40-odd years after our first meeting. Earlier, I suddenly wondered what Joe Doyle was up to. Next thing I knew, my eyes were filled with tears. 

I am heartbroken.

I honestly don't remember why we were all dressed up. It might have been an art show at BCC. What I do remember is Joe's infectious smile and that bolo tie. He looked downright dapper, and if you didn't know Joe as well as we all did, you'd swear he was a deep south good ol' boy, just from the looks of him. But when he spoke, you knew. 

After doing our time on stage and cheering our grads on till our throats were sore, we would get together at the 5 Restaurant and Lounge for a quiet chat and a nightcap. Kelly and Mariella would often join us. One time, Tram stopped by. Sometimes Mary joined us. We told stories about our own adventures in school and generally just got to know each other. These are some of my most treasured times with Joe. We had no agenda, no meetings, no classes to prep for. The lines blurred between administrators, staff, full, and part-timers. We were just people, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company.

Here is link to a tune that Joe and I talked about the last time we spoke. He was really intrigued by its aesthetic in the film Glacé (The Frozen Dead), a French mystery thriller television series from channel M6, set in the French Pyrenees.  It is a beautiful choral setting of the Johnny Cash tune, HURT by  Alexandre Lessertisseur & Sofia Session Choir.

Here's to JOE! 

In 2004 I had to learn 3D. I was doing a fair amount of video game covers and more and more 3D covers were showing up. I heard about Joe's C4D class and took his class at Vista College.
Soon after, they opened BCC, and I heard about the digital printing class he had and thought here's a good place to print out my fantasy paintings. As a by product I would learn more about modern art as well. Joe and I would have big discussions about art and copyrights I remember. At a certain point he told me "you know Michel maybe you're getting too comfortable in your illustration". It made me think about and try doing abstract art. And that made me go back  push myself until it actually happened.
A year later Joe gave me a shot at teaching the C4D class which I've been teaching ever since!
Thanks Joe for everything, you won't be forgotten.
Michel
P.S. I'm adding a shot that shows what I was Illustrating at the time and one of my first Abstracts.

Joe is awesome, He is the reason MMART exists at the school. He is a great teacher that really cares about students so much so he's not afraid to tell them how bad they screwed up. He wants to see people succeed he just doesn't have the best bed side manner for it.

Joe is AWESOME! If you dont get why he is so awesome just take more classes. He practically founded the Multimedia Department the man is a total god! Really inspirational and talks about politics and art. Shows too many boring old movies on art that will put you to sleep but the photoshop technique is top notch!