Meet Mimi Doyo

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mimi Doyo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mimi below.

Mimi , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

As artists, we’re constantly adapting to the world around us, and for me, resilience has become an essential part of the creative process. Ideas don’t always go as planned, and mistakes happen. But I’ve learned to see those moments as opportunities. They often lead me in new directions or reveal something unexpected in my work.
As a painter and educator, balancing my own creative practice with teaching can be challenging, but I’ve realized that both truly inspire each other. Teaching reminds me why I love art. It’s a way of connecting, expressing, and seeing the world differently. Watching my students grow and find joy in creating keeps me motivated to keep growing, too.
My resilience comes from embracing change and trusting the process. Each painting, each class, and each new experience teaches me to stay patient, adaptable, and open to possibility.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a Filipino-American painter and art educator based in Los Angeles. My work explores memory, identity, and the emotional landscapes of everyday life through acrylic and oil painting. Alongside my studio practice, I feel fortunate to share my love for creating through teaching. I work with young students in foundational drawing and painting classes, as well as with adults in my painting workshops. It’s always inspiring to see someone paint for the first time or reconnect with their creativity through the process.
In my own work, I’m most drawn to how personal experiences can become shared stories through painting. I love using color, texture, and layers to tell narratives that feel both intimate and universal. Right now, I’m focused on deepening my studio practice while continuing to teach youth art programs at Stay Arts. I’m also developing a new body of work that reflects on themes of cultural identity and belonging, and I look forward to exhibiting more community-centered projects in the near future.
Looking ahead, I’m thrilled to be part of the Blue Roof Artist Residency next summer, where I’ll have my own studio space for the first time. It’s an exciting opportunity to focus on myself as an artist, explore new directions, and continue sharpening my creative voice.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, the three most important qualities that have shaped my journey are consistency, adaptability, and self-reflection.

Consistency keeps my creativity alive. It doesn’t always mean working on big paintings; sometimes it’s just sketching or writing in my journal to stay connected to my ideas. Those small daily practices help me stay grounded and inspired.

Adaptability has also been essential. Balancing teaching, personal work, and life can be challenging, but learning to flow with change instead of resisting it has allowed me to keep creating even during busy or uncertain times.

Lastly, self-reflection gives my work meaning. For me, creating is a form of survival; it’s how I process and express what I feel. My advice to emerging artists is to nurture your practice in whatever way you can. Stay curious, stay patient, and keep showing up for your art, even in small ways. That’s where growth really happens.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I start to feel overwhelmed, I try to remind myself that I can’t control everything, just the small things that are within reach. The world can feel so chaotic at times, and as a creative, I sometimes feel pressure to always be doing something or staying productive.

One thing that helps is writing things down. I’ll make a list of everything that’s on my mind or what needs to get done, then set it aside. It clears my head and helps me give myself permission to take a break. I’ve also learned the importance of disconnecting, taking time away from work or social media to spend time with loved ones, or just slowing down and doing something that helps me recharge.

Lately, my studio time has become a big part of how I reset. Painting at my easel helps me tune back in and enjoy the process again. My best advice is to take things one step at a time and be gentle with yourself; you don’t have to do everything all at once.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mimidoyo

Image Credits

James Doyo