Cortney Herron on Reflection and the Art of Stillness

When we sat down with Los Angeles-based oil painter Cortney Herron, her voice carried the same calm found in her work. She spoke softly about solitude, ritual, and the quiet discipline behind every brushstroke. In her studio, sunlight filters across half-finished canvases as she builds worlds that feel both grounded and dreamlike.

Herron’s paintings live between reality and reflection. They are serene, surreal, and deeply personal, an exploration of what it means to feel grounded in a world that rarely slows down.

This is Cortney Herron.

Herron began painting at three years old. “I feel like I always knew I’d be an artist,” she says. That instinct carried through high school, where she spent hours painting alone in her room. “I’d come home, close my door, turn on music, and paint.”

She later studied graphic design at UC Davis, a choice influenced by practicality but one that continues to inform her compositions today. “Even though I left painting for design, I still pull from both. You can see it in the balance and structure of my work.”

_{Horizons (2023), oil on canvas}

Her early portraits have evolved into deeper, more reflective pieces. “When I first started sharing my art online, it was surface-level. As I’ve grown as a person, my art has followed.”

Nature plays a key role in that growth. Raised under California’s constant sun, Herron’s palette reflects earth tones and organic movement. “Nature activates all your senses. I try to bring that same feeling into my work through shape and texture.”

Herron’s practice centers on solitude and ritual. “My process is rooted in reflection,” she says. “It’s not isolation. It’s creating space to hear myself.” Music, light, and scent set the tone before she paints. “I build an environment that feels like a sanctuary. That’s when I go deep.”

Most works begin as digital sketches before moving to canvas. “I like to keep them separate but connected,” she explains. “Sometimes I change direction halfway through. That freedom is part of the process.”

_{Position No11 (2024), oil on canvas}

Herron’s art explores identity, peace, and self-acceptance. Her figures, often women, move between vulnerability and calm. “At first I focused on faces,” she says. “Now I want to show the whole body, the full emotion.”

Her focus on stillness also ties to mental health. “Being an artist is pure soul exploration, mind, body, and spirit,” she says. “I want people to feel peace when they see my work. To pause for a moment.”

Herron continues to expand her visual world through new mediums and surreal motifs. “I’m exploring ceramics and sculpture,” she says. “And I’m building a dreamlike space filled with birds, creatures, and women in nature. It’s the world I want to live in.”

For Herron, art remains both anchor and purpose. “There’s no backup plan,” she says. “This is who I am.”

Learn more about Cortney Herron and other artists at Seminal Artist Group.

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