Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Sims.
Hi Courtney, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been a maker. I competed in my first art competition in the fourth grade. I had an amazing art teacher who encourged and taugh all different medias. I loved it and it was an amazing creative outlet but I never dreamed I would be doing it today or make a career out of it.
In 2010, I had a private school in the same association as my alma mater contact me about an art teacher position. Again something I never considered, but I decided to take on the challenge. It was fun. I made it my goal to show my students all forms of media, just as my teacher did.
I painted an abstract/impressionistic floral as an example peice for lesson plans. I can still remember sitting with some fo the high school girls, Talking with them how there are so many genres in art and everyone can paint. Rembrandt said, “One must take a brush and begin.” It didn’t come naturaly too him. It took lots of practice. Just like we all learned to write letters, with practice and determination, you can become an artist. Today, I use that very same abstract floral as the background of my business logo.
I taught art for 5 years, before I was laid off. I wasn’t ready to let go fo my creative outlet. I started teaching paint parties and did a view vendor events and things snow balled from there.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Its challenging to balance a full time job with creating art. I paint every single day. Lunch breaks are spent prepping a peice or picking up neede supplies or dropping restock off at one of the shops that I’m a vendor in.
I am blessed to have an amazing employer who believe in me and has supported my art.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As a creative mind, I’m often indesisive. Even the name of my business, Artsy Kinda Girl, was chosen because i was afraid to label myself as a real artist. When I started out I didn’t really even know what I wanted my style to be. Impressionism is my favorite. I paint a lot of pallet knife acrylic. I’m proud of the fact that I now have a style thas recognizable. I have customers say that they saw a peice somewhere and they just knew it was mine.
If you ask the my customers what I’m known for they would probably say Watertowers.
One of the things I paint the most of is watercolor home portraits. I often work with realtors and paint them for their closing gifts. I love preserving that peice of history and the happy moment they will forever cherish.
I’m proud to be a published illustrator, Robbie Raccoon’s Bartlett Adventure. It was a group project for Leadership Bartlett. We gave a copy to every kindergarten student in Bartlett City Schools. I’m thankful for this opportunity to giveback to my community,
I’m proud of the extra income that art has provided helping put my son through school debt free and assist in paying for his wedding.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite memories is The Rendezvous at the Dixon Event. The Dixon Art Gallery and Gardens hosted a picnic along with Charlie Vergos Rendezvous. Amazing food, fabulous music- I can remember dancing on the lawn with my siblings in front of the stage, Touring the private collection and seeing real art. The coolest thing of all was they created a coloring picture of the event for kids. They hid my Uncle Charlie in the coloring picture like he was Waldo.
The Dixon is still one of my happy places. I love vistiting each year and i even took my students their for a field trip.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsykindagirl_courtneysims
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CQTdHiow5/?mibextid=wwXIfr
