Courtney Potter Studio

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Durham, NC
Courtney Potter Studio

I am an artist + art educator serving the Triangle (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh NC) My abstract paintings are vibrant and emotive. I’d ove to tell your story!

Want stunning artwork that’s as colorful, spirited, and as untraditional as you are? Whether you need a bold abstract statement piece to transform your living room, are cravin’ some creative portraits, or are on the hunt for an experienced wedding photographer, you’ve come to the right place. My documentary-style photography approach is laid-back, candid, and captures the essence of your unique story. I’m based in the Triangle (Raleigh — Durham — Chapel Hill) in North Carolina, but I ship paintings to all 50 states. Book me for a vibrant new painting, empowering portrait session, dynamic new headshots, or LGBTQ wedding.

09/23/2026

Opening night for the Holding Space art exhibition is Friday!

🎨 The exhibition features three pieces I’ve made through my experiences as both a mother and an an art teacher. My elementary art students made the first layers of this painting, and Sylvan painted a bottom corner.

My creative work and my teaching have always been intertwined. I’m interested in what art can hold for us: tenderness, overwhelm, connection, play, grief, wonder, and the complicated work of caring for one another.

I’d love to invite you to come see the exhibition on opening right this Friday, September 25 from 6pm-8pm. Come wander through the gallery, see the work in person, and celebrate with me.

Holding Space: The Art of Care
September 18–November 29, 2026
Truist Gallery
120 Morris St, Durham, NC

09/17/2026

In honor of the holdingspaceartshow exhibition, I am selling a limited number of archival quality prints of art I’ve made as a mother that I’ve never released until now.

Prints are $25 and are 5” x 7” and made with archival inks on smooth matte paper. I only have 3 available prints for each piece as of now, so if one calls to you claim it now!

✨ Link in bio to order your art or copy this link:

https://portal.dubsado.com/public/form/view/6a9830cfce654ae49ba247fb?

09/09/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about the strange, enormous contradiction of motherhood: how a child can make you feel more deeply connected to the universe than anything else, while the actual experience of parenting can sometimes feel like drowning.

I made Underwater, a painting of a humpback whale swimming with her baby, over the span of several years. My child made marks on the canvas with me, co-creating the piece. 🐋

There is something cosmic to me about my bond with my child. ✨The joy. The tenderness. The feeling of recognizing each other across some ancient, invisible distance. Making this painting together felt like entering that place.

But the water is deep.

So much of the conversation around maternal mental health still locates the problem inside individual mothers: Are we coping well enough? Are we asking for help? Are we taking care of ourselves?

But to me, parenting in late-stage capitalism is a systems problem. It is a childcare problem, a healthcare problem, a community problem, a financial problem. It’s a spiritual problem. Love is enormous, but love cannot build the village by itself. Love without safety, without collective care, is akin to drowning.

What do you feel when you look at this painting?

✨✨✨✨✨✨

Underwater will be one of three paintings I’m showing in Holding Space: The Art of Care, opening September 25 at Truist Gallery in Durham.

Holding Space: The Art of Care
September 18–November 29, 2026
Truist Gallery
120 Morris St, Durham, NC

The opening reception is now moved to Friday, September 25, 6–8pm, with additional 3rd Friday receptions on October 16 and November 20.

08/18/2026

There are seasons of parenting that feel like swimming together through deep water.

I made Underwater during one of those seasons.

For years, I have been solo parenting a young child while also navigating disability, chronic illness, and systems that were never really designed with disabled parents, solo parents, or neurodivergent families in mind. There were times when being alone with my child was exactly where I wanted to be. The two of us together could feel like our own little world.

And there were other times when I felt like I was drowning and no one was coming to save me.

Underwater, 36” x 48”, acrylic on canvas, holds some of that feeling. The first layers of the painting were made by my elementary art students and by Sylvan, when she was 3–4 years old. Their marks became part of the foundation of a piece that I continued to build over time.

This work, along with two others, was selected for Holding Space: The Art of Care, an exhibition about the many forms care can take, and the people who carry it.

Holding Space: The Art of Care
September 18–November 29, 2026
Truist Gallery
120 Morris St, Durham, NC 27701

The opening reception is Friday, September 18, 6–8pm, with additional 3rd Friday receptions on October 16 and November 20.

I’m also feeling excited to share more of the art I’ve made during this intense season of my life. My art practice has changed alongside me. Making, teaching, parenting, disability, grief, adaptation, and care have all become part of the work in ways I didn’t necessarily anticipate.

Applying to this show, and revisiting and rewriting my artist statement, gave me a chance to really see how much I have changed as a maker, and how much I’ve integrated from these years of trying to make a life in deep water.

I’d love to see you at the opening. 🐋

holdingspaceartshow

07/23/2026

Today I smiled for my child as she took my picture, then I cried on the phone with my doctor.

The weight of all the things has become too much.

Trying to understand my health, manage symptoms, learn a new way of cooking and eating, coordinate specialists, schedule procedures, keep up with paperwork, appeal my medicaid denial that took 7 weeks to be issued (leaving me uninsured), make money, and solo parent a little human I love so much… it feels like I’m carrying the load of at least four people. And the load before this wasn’t easy or sustainable in the first place.

And I keep wondering: when do I actually get to rest? When does my body get the space to recover? How can I heal when the workload and responsibilities of managing multiple complex chronic illnesses keeps growing? In a country that doesn’t provide universal health care and has so many barriers to accessing care?

I’m grateful that my new primary care doctor listened and is helping connect me with a social worker. I’m grateful for the people who have stepped in, for friends who love my child and give us support, for every little piece of community holding us up.

I’m doing everything I can to keep moving forward. Advocating for my health, caring for my kid, and trying to keep my creative business I’ve worked so hard to build going. But the financial and emotional strain of being sick while navigating care has been overwhelming.

If you feel called to support us, sharing my GoFundMe helps more than I can say. Donations help cover the gaps while I focus on getting medical care, managing symptoms, and keeping our little family stable.

If you’ve already shared, donated, checked in, helped with Sylvan, or simply cheered us on, thank you. I truly mean it when I say community is what is carrying us right now. 🫂

To donate and share copy this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/courtney-sylvan

06/03/2026

The last few years have changed me.

Becoming a solo parent, navigating chronic illness and burnout, raising a neurodivergent child, and trying to survive as a self-employed artist has forced me to confront realities that I used to have the privilege of not seeing.

I’ve become increasingly aware of how many of our systems are built around the assumption that people have endless energy, stable health, family support, financial reserves, and another adult helping carry the load. Many of us don’t.

For a long time, I thought the answer was to become more resilient. To work harder, organize better, heal faster, and somehow learn to carry more.

But the problem is that human beings were never meant to carry this much alone.

My GoFundMe is reactivated because financial stability remains a real need for my family as I navigate multiple chronic health flares at the start of a busy summer camp season. But I’m sharing it today as part of a larger practice of modeling vulnerability, allowing support, and participating in community care.

If you’re able to contribute financially, thank you. If you’re local and able to offer practical support like childcare on weekends or meals, thank you. If you share this, check in, or simply witness this part of my journey, thank you. ❤️

I don’t think the answer to hard times is becoming endlessly resilient. I think it’s remembering that we belong to each other.

Link in bio or copy the link below to donate:

https://gofund.me/11623a4be

05/04/2026

The art market this weekend gave me motivation to refresh my art displays in my home. This galaxy wall with my favorite pour paintings is giving me life!

For the first time in years all my paintings and art tools are in one place. They were scattered across studio space and storage boxes in my basement when my kid was smaller. So much of my creative life force has gone towards full-time parenting, yet I’ve still created art in bursts. I’m in a season of reclamation now, integrating the lessons and identities of the last few years. Dusting off my art and giving old pieces new life. 💫

All the round canvas fluid paintings you see here are available for purchase. What do these pieces make you feel? Comment below; I’d love to hear!

Address

Durham, NC

Website

http://www.courtney-potter.com/

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