courtney cook | painter

Art is my life and my life is art ~ Yoko Ono

I've always been creative. I went to an academic high school. Everyone was in advanced placement classes and getting accepted to prestigious universities like Harvard + Yale. At the time, I just thought I was not academic or intelligent. It was not until recently that I realised I was. It was just a different form of intelligence – a creative and emotional intelligence. 

I have really started to see this + learn this about myself and I’m slowly accepting it. I have worked in photography, floristry, interiors – always in creative fields. There was one time that I tried something that wasn't creative, and I actually had an allergic reaction to the uniforms. I broke out in hives. I am literally allergic to working that kind of job.

Being a creative is a vulnerable career. It's a very vulnerable way of life. However, I know that creativity is where I have to exist. 

I think one day it will become really clear why I paint. I know it helps me make sense of my inner world and the world around me. But for now, I just know it is the main medium for me to express my creativity other than mothering!

I believe that we have to trust that we create when the time is right. That when we finally get past the procrastinating + avoiding, we will make our work and that's when we were supposed to make it. I do not believe in creative blocks or needing to find inspiration. We have it all around us in every moment. We live in this 9 to 5 productivity world, but if we are to believe that art is life and life is art … we just live artfully. 

words by courtney cook  |  @courtney.c.cook  |  https://www.courtneycookartist.com

edited + curated by cassie douglas