We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Cooper recently and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

While I have been artful as long as I can remember (I taped together fabric to make my second grade teacher a dress which she jokingly said she’d wear to my wedding — it was child size so that was literally impossible even 20 years later), I am a completely self-taught artist. I loved to play with new creative ideas — sewed my own clothes for a while, made patterns, sold headbands in college — but when 2020 hit and my husband bought me a watercolor palette, I was both terrified and excited. After a few days of play? I was hooked.

Courtney , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I’m not chasing after my little circus of four children, you can find me with a cup of coffee (let’s face it, half coffee half homemade vanilla creamer) and a paintbrush, dreaming up my next idea.

I wanted to be a wedding dress designer (we can thank Nancy Meyers and her character Elizabeth James for that), but while I loved the design aspect, I did not have the deep patience for the draping and sewing.

I found wedding painting after painting many commissions for clients, it was a perfect fit.

I believe in curating an experience that wows showcasing the joy of your love story, whether that’s through a live painting, guest portraits, or in-studio commissions.

If you’re trusting me as your wedding artist, I know these things to be true to be true…

A painting that will reside on the wall of your future home where each day your children will pass by and see the significance of your connection.

Thousands of photographs will be taken at your wedding yet many of them will remain unprinted and forgotten. Your fine art painting is a tangible reminder of why you fell in love in the first place.

Your celebrations will come alive even more than you envisioned with a romantic, illuminating experience for your guests.

My favorite part? Seeing the look on your face when you see your love story as fine art.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal with art, as with everything I do, is to make people feel known, seen, and loved, and that drives everything I do.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In my adult years, I’ve been learning to have a voice, and relearning that I have something valuable to share.

I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I am a good singer, and I love it. I had plenty of solos in college — so now that I’ve painted the proverbial canvas…

When I was a little girl, and I loved loved loved to sing.

I would sing in the car, in the shower (talk about sweet acoustics), and anywhere I could. There was one day in my adolescence though I remember vividly (isn’t that how it goes!?), when I was singing and my friends laughed at me. As an adult, I can look back and realize they weren’t really very nice people… I’m that moment I now know I internalized the message “Your voice isn’t worth being heard; its actually laughable.”

I’m sure we can all relate to something like that— when we’re young and impressionable, those seemingly small moments made a huge impact on my self-esteem and my voice growing into adulthood. Through a lot of prayer, affirmations, and mindset shifts, I’m working to unlearn that and replace it with the belief that my voice matters. And for any other artist or creative reading this — your voice matters too.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Courtneykibby.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/courtneykibbydesigns
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/courtneykibbydesigns
• Linkedin: Www.linkedin.com/courtneykibbydesigns
• Other: Www.pinterest.com/courtneykibbydesigns

Image Credits
Tabor Warren Photography