Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Cox.
Hi Courtney, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Hello and thanks for having me. I guess my story goes like this: I traveled the world for three years to discover that the thing I had been looking for had been in my drawer at home all along. On June 28, 2015, my husband and I closed the door to our apartment for the last time. Inside, it was empty; we had gotten rid of everything we owned, save for what was in our carry-on-sized backpacks. We called ourselves nomads, but I always felt like a turtle carrying my home on my back. We had one-way tickets to Europe through a budget airline. Our game plan was to keep the most expensive aspects of travel (transportation and housing) as low as possible. We had more time than money, so we moved around by bus, train, and rideshare, and even hitchhiked a couple of times. We stayed in youth hostels, couch surfed, and housesat for accommodation. It worked. For a year, we traveled to over 100 cities in Europe and the Middle East. Then, when we were tired of figuring out where we would be sleeping every night, we came back Stateside – and immediately bought a minivan. We gutted the van, built a platform for a bed with storage underneath, and zip-tied milk crates together at the back to create a kitchenette. Voila! Transportation and housing in one.
We were van lifers and drove around for another year and a half. During this adventure, I was introduced to something exceptionally ordinary that completely changed my life: a needle and thread. I’ve always been interested in art. I had even interned in the studio of a full-time artist for two years before becoming a nomad. The right medium had yet to present itself. Six months after we got the van, we were in Los Angeles, and I saw a friend stitching a picture for the first time. I had no notion of hand embroidery or fiber arts. “It’s like painting with a needle and thread,” she told me. “I think you’ll love it.” Hand embroidery is lightweight, inexpensive, and compact, perfect for someone with limited space options. Starting with a handful of thread colors, a small hoop, and some plain white fabric, I began playing around, discovering stitches as if I was inventing them for the first time. My exploration of hand embroidery was separate from its rich and ancient history, in which each stitch has a name and correct technique; “Stab it until it gets prettier” is my mantra. Despite my inelegant beginnings (or perhaps because of them), my hand embroidery was distinctly art rather than craft. Everything I stitched was my own design, created to communicate an experience or emotion. The suitable medium had finally found me, and I felt like I could make anything. One year after I was introduced to hand embroidery, we parked the van for good in Austin, Texas, acquired furniture and a dog, and ended our nomad journey. I found out about a state-wide juried art show, decided to submit my work, and was selected. From there, my work developed quickly.
After my grandfather died in the fall of 2018, I began embroidering portraits. My work was published in overseas magazines. I exhibited around central Texas and then in the rest of the US. In the summer of 2020, I was accepted into the Society for Embroidered Work, an international organization that promotes stitched art headquartered in the UK. I was juried into their exhibition in Rome, Italy, the following year. My submissions to the Woodlawn Needlework Show (the largest exhibition of needlework in the United States) won awards in 2021 and 2022. (The full list of my publications, awards, features, and exhibitions can be found on my website.)
In addition to my hand embroidery work, I’ve found a deep love for knitting. Over this summer, I started knitting professionally for luxury and fashion brands. Then in fall, I began delving into my designs, writing and releasing knitting patterns. In the early summer of 2022, we moved from Austin to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where my husband was born and raised. Fiber art has been up and coming for the last few years, and connecting with other local enthusiasts hasn’t been difficult. Despite only being here briefly, I’ve joined the knitting guild, the fiber arts guild, and the Association for Visual Arts. I’ve found community, opportunities, and inspiration through this newfound network. I have a lot of big plans for next year concerning my fiber art!
Would it have been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My health has been one of the biggest obstacles. I deal with chronic illnesses and have had several surgeries over the last few years. At the same time, my illnesses have played a major role in my artistic pursuits. When you’re dealing with a lot of pain, you spend a lot of time being still. All of my downtimes became creative time. My art was a way to express myself when I struggled with my health.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a fiber artist, I am best known for my modern hand embroidery. I like to stitch portraits, so most of my embroidery work includes faces. Political and social commentary art is also interesting, especially in the last two years. Working with dissolving fabric has further elevated my embroidery work. Embroidering onto a fabric that disappears after I’ve finished stitching has enabled me to free my work from the usual constraints (being stuck to one fabric) and incorporate unexpected elements. For example, I’ve mounted embroidered faces onto flyswatters and iridescent plastic. My knit designs have largely been garments, with sweaters being my top focus and a few accessories.
What matters most to you? Why?
Exploration and experimentation. The combination of observation and creative output is of deep importance to me. I am constantly acquiring new techniques and skills in all areas of my life, pairing what I know with something I want to discover. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I am always asking questions and looking for unusual methods of presenting my ideas. Trying something – just to see – is more important to me than mastering a technical skill. This mindset makes for many enthusiastic beginnings and endless ideas that only sometimes work out. For every finished piece, at least one didn’t pan out. Discarding projects, starting over, and pulling everything out are vital to my process. Exploring, in art as in travel, inevitably takes us to places we didn’t love just as often as it helps us discover hidden treasures.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.courtneycoxart.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/courtneycoxart
- Facebook: facebook.com/courtneycoxart
- Other: ravelry.com/designers/courtney-m-cox
