Are artists born or made? To help answer this question, we asked some of the most artistic folks we know to tell us about how they knew they were going to pursue an artistic or creative path. We’ve shared highlights below.

Ralph Almeida

As with most artists they will tell you that creating art is a very intuitive thing. I had a knack for drawing and an enthusiastic sense of color from my early childhood. Read more>>

Sylkie Monoff

I grew up in Germany in a household where no one was really involved with music too much, apart from us listening to the radio + buying records once in a while. Read more>>

Wei-Lun Ting

Hi, I’m Waylon Ting, an illustrator and motion graphics artist. I’ve known since childhood that I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic career. My parents, both art school teachers, encouraged my passion for art. Read more>>

João Boiajion

When I was 12 years old I remember listening (and attempting to sing along… the audacity!) to Queen’s greatest hits album in the car radio with my mom pretty much every day on the ride home from school, I knew back then that I wanted to make something that touched me as deeply as that music did. Read more>>

Jan Willadsen

Probably around the age of 15 when I was sewing custom clothing for a pregnant woman who went swimming everyday for exercise. At that time, almost 60 years ago, there weren’t bathing suits for pregnant women so I custom designed and fabricated suits that were functional and attractive as well as suitably covering her tummy. Read more>>

Ellyn Kozob-Lerner

In 2019, my family and I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, just as the pandemic began. Despite the challenges, my passion for exploration and connection persisted. Read more>>

Magda Sanchez

I don’t know if it happens to all artists, but in my case I always knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to art, since I can remember in one way or another, even though I said I wanted to be an astronaut, what really always fascinated me was music, Read more>>

Noa Wolff

I think I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally. As a little kid, I was telling everyone that I would grow up to be an actor (or a princess, haha). I was in theater classes and nothing made me happier. Read more>>

Jean-Michael Kelsey

I had my first fully fledged shoot in 2018. A friend of mine tipped me off about a fashion brand that needed a videographer for a shoot for their upcoming Spring/Summer collection and I said y’know what, okay, I haven’t done this before, but let’s give it a shot. Read more>>

Demetrius Roary

In 2020 at the age of 18 I started to really have a passion for creating instrumentals from scratch. I started off pretty small and eventually upgraded my equipment realizing my love for exploring music and the behind the scenes of how it is created. Read more>>

Michael Morlan

I knew i wanted to be a DJ & Producer when i grew up making playlists for myself & family/friends. I was always told i had a skill of putting together a set of music to curate a certain vibe for a room or a person, and after i learned how to DJ i was able to take those previous skills into playing music for other people. Read more>>

Tetiana Kalivoshko

When I was in High-school I decided to study to be an artist and started taking a 5-hour train ride to L’viv every Thursday night to study art all weekend with my Igor Chomsky who was my first art teacher. Read more>>

Collin Desha

It was pretty crystal clear for me since a very young age that I wanted to pursue my art as a career. I started making songs and writing albums at around 14 years old. We had a local recording studio on Oahu that was pretty close to my house. Read more>>

Mary Mackey

I was pretty young, maybe 7th grade. My grandmother was an artist, and always belived in me. I went to the Colorado Institute of Art to study Photography. when I was 20 years old and from then on I have always had part of my income from Art. Read more>>

Samantha Salmeron

My mother loves to share with me (& everyone) that by the age of 3, I knew I wanted to be a “Movie Star” a “Singer” & a “Model.” I have always known that being creative was my chosen path. Read more>>

Isabelle Gedigk

I have always loved to draw. As a kid, I was fascinated by all things fantastical, especially creatures. I would draw dragons, gryphons, unicorns, Pokémon, you name it, all day long. But growing up with very few creatives in the family, it never really occurred to me to pursue art professionally. Read more>>

Elaine Xuhong Chen

Growing up, I always had a passion for creative pursuits, but upon graduating from university, I chose to pursue a career in engineering or IT due to the perceived stability and financial rewards associated with these fields. Read more>>

Eli Neaves

Before I started Eli’s Dyes I was a rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard and was bored one day in my baracks room and decided to tie-dye some shirts they turned out really cool. So i made more and sold them to my friends and family then slowly more and more peope wanted it. Read more>>

Lucia Marmol

From a young age, I was captivated by the transformative nature of art—painting, drawing, and creating became my sanctuary, allowing my imagination to run wild. Read more>>

Simone Brown

In a way it was something that I always knew and found joy in. When I was very young I always enjoyed putting on little talent shows for family and getting opportunities to sing for people. Read more>>

Janhavi Khemka

I didn’t exactly know what a BFA or MFA was, or what I could become when I was in 12th grade. I enjoyed drawing and painting in my notebook during in every classes. I particularly liked reading geography and drawing maps. Read more>>

Jade Griffin

Well, I have always been drawing since I was a kid but it wasn’t until elementary school that I knew that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. It was years later around 2020 that I decided that I wanted to take art seriously so I could eventually become a full-time artist. Read more>>

Soyun Park

When I was young I always enjoyed drawing and coloring, and dreamed about becoming an artist. However, it took time for me to actually realize my path. My surrounding environment pushed me to do academic studies. Read more>>

Matt Warner

I first was introduced to the dance music scene back in 2012 when my best friend, Max Barbour, took me to a Wolfgang Gartner show at Loyola University in Baltimore, MD. At the time, I had no prior knowledge of the scene or the music at all. Read more>>

Azucena Flores Pizaña

It´s funny because a lot of people say things like “when I was 5 I knew I wanted to be a performer”. But for me, I didn´t have my moment until I was in high school. My brother and I were both in drama club and in choir but that was mostly just for credits. Read more>>