Bloom - Select Works by Athens Artist Courtney Khail

Join us for the opening reception of Bloom, the first curated show hosted by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. The works will be available for purchase and on display at the Chamber following the reception. 



Contemporary artist Courtney Khail lives and works in Athens, Georgia.

Originally from Augusta, Georgia, Courtney Khail studied visual arts at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School for eight years before going on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Scientific Illustration from The University of Georgia's Lamar Dodd School of Art.

A storyteller at heart, Khail utilizes flowers, color, gestural line work, and personal anecdotes to share her feelings on influence, religion, and womanhood.

Her work has been featured in various publications and websites including The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Food Network, GoodGrit Magazine, and CommonCreativATL. In 2017 her first solo exhibition opened at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and in 2018 the Georgia Council for the Arts commissioned Khail to create a custom painting for then First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Deal. Khail’s work can be found in collections across the United States as well as in exclusive collections for various companies and hotels including the Rosewood Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, the Whole Foods Headquarters in Austin, and the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

“My art is a celebration of the unique blend of Southern charm and feminist empowerment, using the symbolism of flowers to create paintings that are both visually striking and emotionally resonant.

I focus on flowers not just because they are viewed as traditionally feminine (and therefore often dismissed as serious subject matter) but also because of their rich symbolic histories. By carefully curating which blooms I present, I am able to utilize that ability to convey my thoughts on various subject matters- specifically in response and reflection to my experience as a woman born, raised, and currently living in the South.

My paintings have evolved from realistic representations of specific flowers -fully painted and traditionally composed- to more abstracted floral forms which rely on color and multiple layers of varying line work to capture the feeling and essence of flowers as a whole.

My use of organic pools of pigment- specifically how they overlap, meet, and often spill past the boundaries of my line work- quite literally symbolizes the push and pull one experiences when who they are or what they believe does not perfectly align with the ever changing boundaries and expectations placed upon them by society."