About the Artist

Mei Kei (“May Kay”) McDowell is an artist based in North Carolina, USA. While she specializes in paintings and drawings of portraits and natural landscapes, she also creates wearable art in the form of jewelry pieces. 

She developed her love for animals and nature very early on — influenced by Ranger Rick magazines, the Discovery Channel, and Eyewitness Books about horses and birds; frequent family trips to the National Aquarium of Baltimore and Longwood Gardens have created many happy memories for her that she now draws on to create her artwork. With over eight years of study of Psychology and six years experience as a therapist, she is now exploring art pieces portraying people too.

Mei Kei attended university to obtain a dual major in Art and Psychology. With her masters degree in Psychology, she worked as a behavioral rehabilitation specialist and mobile therapist in Pennsylvania. The children and families she worked with called her "Miss Mei Kei." In some cases, she utillized art and crafting with her clients to help calm them and to help them communicate their thoughts and feelings during sessions. 

After moving to Maryland, Mei Kei switched careers and worked in sales of Subaru and Volkswagen in Owings Mills — there, she enjoyed meeting the many people she got to meet along the way. Quick calligraphy in large sharpies of her own "sold" signs were about the only way she could sneak in some creative license in her car sales process. 

One day (finally), a friend introduced Mei Kei to her now-husband Byron. She made her way to join him in beautiful North Carolina, where she started over yet again. Just before they married, Byron invited her to tell him all her dreams and wishes. Upon discovering her love for art-making and dreams of becoming an artist one day... Byron immediately cleared the kitchen table and small room of their apartment and told her to "go for it... you will regret it if you don't."  Then and there, she finally began a career as an artist.

Miss Mei Kei Fine Art & Designs

Mei Kei (“May Kay”) McDowell offers portraits in a variety of media — graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, acrylic paint, oil paint, watercolor, and now pastel as well. For her jewelry designs and craftwork, she creates using fine art metals, natural stones, and polymer clay.

Mei Kei likes to experiment with color but also with technique in her artwork and designs. She’s been known to use non-traditional tools like the metal tip of dental picks! In her drawings, you may see shadows and “fur texture” within the surface of the paper. In her tiger, cheetah, jaguar, lion, snow leopard and ibex paintings, you will see how she was able to use the pick point to create a fur-like texture effect in the paint. For her octopus drawing, she channeled the animal she was drawing by using BOTH hands to create it.

Of course, by looking at the pieces straight on, you may not see these sculpted details — so she invites you to view her Instagram (@missmeikei) for videos of her creative detailing process. Otherwise, stop by Design Market of the Pines in Aberdeen, North Carolina or The ArtWorks in Wilmington, North Carolina to view her work in person.

Committed to helping wildlife and environmental rescue operations and missions — Mei Kei has pledged 10% of proceeds from artworks sold to help efforts like North Carolina’s very own Carolina Tiger Rescue. 10% of proceeds from her pet portrait commissions are specially directed to organizations like ASPCA and local pet shelters like Paws of the Pines Rescue.

Mei Kei would be glad to hear from you, meet you, answer any of your questions, and chat about artwork throughout the year! Stay tuned for “Meet the Artist” events at Design Market of the Pines or contact her directly at missmeikeidesigns@gmail.com!