about the artist
“In a world of chaos and uncertainty, the creative process brings me unparalleled joy and peace. It’s my happy place, where my imagination and creativity comes alive. Whether I’m blending fabrics, painting an umbrella, or making someone’s dream come true with a costume that reflects their vision – it’s a process that is very nurturing to my soul.”
Courtney Bullock is known for her colorful creative style. She currently works in fabric but has a background in multidisciplinary fine art. Whether she is making costumes for the young or not-so-young, painting umbrellas or fanciful hats, or redesigning a kitchen, her work is joyful and creative.
She earned her Bachelors of Arts from San Francisco State University with a multi-media fine arts emphasis. Her parents, both extremely talented and creative, instilled in her the sense of anything is possible. She learned to sew when she was a teenager and has been sewing ever since. She has a background in painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Once graduated her passion extended to large paper mache and costumery. This included a Center of the Universe Costume that lit up and had planets dangling all around her head, a double stacked clown acrobat costume that looked like there was a second full size clown balancing on her own head, and the Queen of the Jungle menagerie.
An adventurous trip to Nepal and Italy during Carnival season inspired her to create the Free Your Dragon float for San Francisco’s Carnival Parade. She created a large dragon head that fit on a shopping cart which was filled with confetti. Members of her group created pointed hats and became the body and tail of the dragon as they merrily danced in the parade and threw biodegradable confetti to the crowd. The group competed against large mac-truck sized floats, but the little dragon head won the Best Float award for creativity, color and festive spirit.
In the mid 1990’s Courtney Bullock moved to New Orleans. She has immersed herself joyfully in the art and culture of New Orleans as a costumer, reveler and creative spirit. When she’s not creating art, she is a technology specialist and has been working with K-12 schools for the last 20 years.
Currently a member of the Dames de Perlage, a guild member of The New Orleans Costume Center and has a costume she created for Big Freedia on exhibit in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture.