By Susan Marquez
Photography by Rory Doyle
Growing up in her home in Ardmore, Oklahoma, Kellee Mayfield was fortunate to have been surrounded by plenty of great artwork. “There was one painting in particular, a portrait of my grandmother that was painted by an artist in New York in the 1930s, that I was always drawn to.” Yet in school, Mayfield was pushed towards science. She graduated college and went on to become a successful sales rep for a medical device company. “I sold pacemakers for the heart, and I was often in the operating room when they were implanted.” Mayfield worked the Delta region, almost always on 24-hour call.
While she had a passion for science, Mayfield also developed a growing passion for art. “After college, I attended an oil-painting workshop and I really liked it. I began dabbling in oils in 1991, and started painting seriously in 1993. My grandmother, who could be a bit picky, said she liked my work. That was encouragement enough for me to keep going forward.”
But Mayfield continued feeling the urge to paint. A friend came up with a solution. She suggested that Mayfield use pastels. “It was like painting with oil, in that I could mix the colors. I did it for a while, but I didn’t like having to put the finished products under glass to preserve them.” In looking for an alternative, a local art shop merchant suggested that Mayfield try fast-drying oil paint. That seemed to be exactly what the artist was looking for.
Mayfield’s husband is a general surgeon at Chicot Memorial Medical Center in Lake Village. “His office was my first gallery as we needed art for his walls.” Around 2013 to 2014, a unique thing happened that altered the course of Mayfield’s art career. “I learned about a woman in California who did one painting a day for a month.” She heard about it on a podcast and thought it would be a great way to hone her craft. “They weren’t large paintings. Most were small in size. I posted each day’s painting on Instagram. My goal was not to be self-judgmental, but to put my work out there and let those who viewed it be the judge as to whether or not they liked it.”
Rural. Resourceful. Sparkle. That’s the tagline that Mayfield has on her artwork, which features Delta scenes, and everyday objects that are glorified in her work, from onions and egg cartons to cows, rice fields and cotton. Mayfield has taken several art trips to Italy and France, where she does plein air painting. She was the artist-in-residence at Chateau Orquevaux in France last fall.
“Everyone talks about the light in Europe, and it is magnificent, don’t get me wrong. But when I come home to the Delta, the light here is simply wonderful. Art is about conveying light and shadow, and I love it. I love the way the light hits on the fields and the trees here. I used to have to drive to Tupelo a lot for work, and I really love how the light comes through the trees on the Natchez Trace. It’s so beautiful.”
Mayfield is also painting canvases for Paul Michael and Co. exclusively for the Round Top market. “They are large format abstracts – five feet by seven feet, used in large spaces. That has been a real game-changer for me. That, and the internet, which has changed the way art is marketed, discovered and sold.”
Mayfield’s work can be seen on her Delta Moxie Instagram page @deltamoxie.