Meet Mary Payton | Mixed Media Painter

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

Hi Mary, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
DO THE WORK. I say it to my friends, my mentees, my children, but mostly myself! It hits in so many ways. It’s a reminder that I am choosing myself. Without working and creating the art itself, I will never improve. Doing the work of putting myself and my art out there is equally as important. Working in the studio is therapeutic, and remembering to be there and being free through the work is vital! So when I want to let life go by and I need to refocus, I tell myself DO THE WORK! It brings me right back to how lucky I am to have this life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As an artist, I have explored many media. It wasn’t until I found fused and carved glass that I felt really proud of the work I was making. It was the first time I really connected with a material, explored, learned, and created pieces that I felt proud to put out there. My glasswork gave me the confidence to start selling, approaching galleries, and thinking of myself in terms of a “real” artist. When budget and time constraints and the reality of difficult life situations made glass out of reach for me, it was devastating. I stopped creating art almost entirely, for quite a number of years.

In 2015, I experienced an infection in my eyes that led to a neurological condition called Visual Snow Syndrome. Basically, my brain plays as much with the signal coming from my eyes, as I play with paint on a canvas! What I see is a crazy, unique, beautiful mess. When I was in the thick of the infection and my eyes were so painful and chemically dilated, I experienced visual fields that made me want to paint, specifically I wanted to paint abstracts. I had never found myself to be what I wanted to be as an abstract painter. I was really yearning to get what was in my mind onto a painting, however. As soon as I was healed enough, I began to paint. Returning to art was a complete catharsis for me in every way. It physically was the only time when my eyes weren’t being forced to focus and do the extra work of just getting through the day. They could relax and just enjoy color and movement and not be working so hard. And my inner self needed the return of art in a way I hadn’t recognized. I started to love my paintings and gain confidence and put myself out there again. I am so grateful that in my story, where I am now unable to drive or even walk unassisted sometimes, I have this event, this passenger, who has truly brought me back to something I love.

Recently I’ve begun adding figurative elements based on family photos to my abstracts. The series is called “What You Don’t See”. These pieces feel very dreamlike, that these people could be anywhere, plucked from the picture and placed into an entirely different time and place. I am obsessed with the elements of the photograph that are not tangible. Who took this photo and why? What’s happening at the moment this photograph was snapped? What’s the deeper reality for the people captured in the scene? What is their story?! How can I bring all of this to the viewer through my work?

All of this has added up to a body of work that I am so proud to claim. My work is bright, playful, full of movement and life. I want the viewer to feel joy and curiosity. I want the layers to inspire thoughts of the passage of time and harken to everyday objects and their use and wear patterns and how they’ve lived a life alongside of their user.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Sioux Falls might be a small city, but it has plenty of good art and some great food too! Hopefully we would have some good weather to walk along Phillips Avenue and take in the Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk. We would want to end up at Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen to enjoy the amazing food and sit on their patio. They have a large selection of local brews to enjoy while we plan the rest of the week. Sunday brunch at MB Haskett’s is a must, and then a short trip to the Palisades State Park to climb around on the rocks. We would have to visit Devil’s Gulch as well and talk about how Jesse James jumped at this point to evade capture! Back in town, we would pick up Indian food from Everest, because the Samosa Chat is the best thing I have ever eaten. Highlights for the rest of the week would be a visit to Rehfeld’s Art and Framing, Washington Pavilion Visual Arts Center, and because we planned it well in advance – tattoos at Moon Rae and Vishnu Bunny Tattoo. Our two chihuahuas would be total assholes while we were hanging out at Monks House of Ale Repute, so we would take them home and then out to Roots of Brazil for more amazing food. Topped off with a visit to our favorite dive bar, Andy’s Top Hat, it would be a fantastic week!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to say that my family have made my life what it is. From kids who have sat through art fairs, listened patiently to me discussing my current work, and bragged to their friends, to a husband who encourages me, pushes me, finds opportunities for me, plays handler, transports paintings, and is my cheerleader and is eye candy at all my events. I couldn’t do it without them loving me for me.

Instagram: @paytonology

Facebook: Paytonology Artwork

Image Credits
James Zajicek