Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Utter.
Hi Courtney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story started when I was young. I always loved art and creating, I even won an award in elementary school! But as life goes on and I grew up, graduated college, and got a job that unfortunately wasn’t in the creative realm. As they saying goes, “life got in the way”.
Christmas Day 2016 my life changed forever. My youngest niece and I were riding around my neighborhood in my ATV. We were on our way back home when the wind caught us and the ATV rolled over onto my side, leaving my arms trapped under the roll bar. I was transported to a hospital where I spent 2 weeks in ICU. After a brief stay at home, I went back to the hospital after my vascular graft broke only for my family to be told my left arm was dying and needed to be amputated. On January 13, 2017 (a Friday) my trauma team amputated my left arm.
After I came home, I felt grief, sadness, and anger. Once reality set in that this was the new normal for me, I started creating small pieces. I wanted to do this feel whole again and to feel like I did pre-amputation.
I started to work with resin, acrylics, wood, and alcohol inks to name a few. I like to push myself to see what I can create only using my right arm.
As of right now, I don’t have a website for my work, only social media, and word of mouth but maybe I’ll look into changing that soon!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The struggle obviously is trying to create using only my right arm. I can usually find a workaround but it’s not easy. Trying to adjust day to day itself after such a life-changing experience is hard but I’d like to think I’m doing pretty good!
I think getting your art “out there” is also somewhat difficult. For some, my art may not be their cup of tea but for others, it may be something they can’t live without! Either way, getting exposure seems to be one of my challenges so that’s why I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity!!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love color!!! I try to incorporate it into all things I do. It just makes me happy. I also like to choose a phrase or word and paint in onto a canvas and add different translations of that word or phrase in other languages. It’s a cool idea plus, who knows, you could slowly learn other phrases from my art!!!
Using different medias is also fun. My mom has always said my taste is very eclectic and I’d like to think that comes across in my art.
What does success mean to you?
In my opinion, defining success is very subjective and I think it depends on the situation. A major success for me was learning how to navigate day to day with one arm. I wanted to give up and quit but to do that I would have certainly failed myself and in life.
I’d say for me to be successful in a creative way is to be pleased with the product I put out and to inspire someone to do something that pushes their boundaries. A monetary reward is always nice but to be truly content is what I consider a creative success.
Contact Info:
- Email: courtney.k.utter@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/courtney_utter_texas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courtney.m.ball.7
Image Credits
Courtney Utter
