Courtney trained as a figure painter at Macalester College in Minnesota before moving to South Korea to teach English for three years. While travelling across the world, she was in Iraq when she was accepted into the MA Children's Book Illustration course at the Cambridge School of Art and moved to England in 2011. Courtney has since moved back to the USA and teaches full-time in the Graphic Design program at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin.Courtney trained as a figure painter at Macalester College in Minnesota before moving to South Korea to teach English for three years. While travelling across the world, she was in Iraq when she was accepted into the MA Children's Book Illustration course at the Cambridge School of Art and moved to England in 2011. Courtney has since moved back to the USA and teaches full-time in the Graphic Design program at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin.