Wanting to be an artist or creative is step one. Following through means investing in learning your craft, but we’ve heard from so many aspiring artists and creatives who feel unsure about where to start and so we’re incredibly grateful to the artists and creatives who’ve agreed to share their stories of how they learned their craft.

Liz Griffith

Becoming a wedding coordinator in Nebraska came with some background to know what to do while learning how to do it! I studied Event Management in college and obtained my bachelor’s with a background in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, and Family Consumer Sciences. My studies began to shape and develop my desire to plan, design, and execute events. Starting off by managing a coffee shop during college, this role opened the door to working directly with clients who booked the space for baby showers, corporate meetings, and even small wedding receptions. Through those experiences, I discovered how much I loved the planning process! From sourcing the perfect vendors to ensuring every detail aligned with the client’s vision. I found so much joy in going above and beyond expectations, whether through thoughtful touches or simply being attentive to every ask and need. Read more>>

Elise Guay

I have always been an artist in some capacity from a very young age, but tattooing wasn’t always my path. I attended college right after high school, starting at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, but later transferred to University of Stirling in Scotland after my study abroad semester, where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Masters Degree in Publishing. During my time in Scotland, I got my first (and second) tattoo. Read more>>

Ava Brooks

I learned by throwing myself into the world of pro wrestling headfirst. I trained hard, watched tape nonstop, asked questions, studied the greats—and then I got in the ring and failed a few times. That’s how you learn in this business. You take the bumps, you listen to your coaches, and you never stop evolving. Every match, every crowd, every moment was part of the process. Read more>>

Katharina “Jude” Mundt

I learned what I do by immersing myself in every opportunity I could find, both academically and professionally. I moved to the US from Germany to pursue a career in media and started out studying Media Studies at The New School, originally with the goal of becoming a professor. But during my time there, I felt a strong pull toward camera work and experimental photography, which had always been a passion of mine that I never thought was realistic to pursue. Around the same time, I rediscovered animation and motion design, which opened up a whole new creative path for me. Read more>>

Christopher Impiglia

Learning is an endless pursuit. There will never be a time where you feel like you have “arrived,” or learned what you need to learn in order to succeed. This is especially true of writing, and understanding this will give you an appropriate and necessary level of humility. Confidence only hurts; one day you may feel like you’ve crafted the perfect piece, plowed through it with the ease of genius, that you can move on, pleased with yourself. But look back, and you’ll inevitably be disappointed. Every word, every sentence, must be approached with humility and doubt; you can always improve. Read more>>

Ruben Camacho

I started making music when I was 11 years old, on an iPad, using a little app called GarageBand. I had no plan, no structure, no mentor, just curiosity. I didn’t know what I was doing, but that didn’t stop me. I just started playing. Tapping around. Making noise. Sometimes it sounded good, sometimes it didn’t. But I kept going. Read more>>

Jonah Lange

Failure. How does anyone learn by succeeding? I think the most memorable and notable learning experiences came from failures, both big and small. Trial and error, especially with something that changes so quickly, is one of the only ways to truly learn. Read more>>

Zainab Khan

A wise author once mentioned at a conference how a great writer would write stories that only he/she could write.
To me, it meant I had to write about a teacher who needed her face reattached in the right places. After all, I was a former elementary and preschool teacher. It was one of the many things I taught to preschoolers. It was an original idea the world needed. Little kids in every school, in every state in our country would giggle as they learned about faces. Read more>>

Kate Harrold

I went to art school thinking I’d be a painter, but when you enter a bachelors of fine arts program, you get to learn all the mediums. I fell in love with photography as soon as I entered the darkroom. While I work digitally now, the methods I learned to compose, edit, balance, and color correct in the darkroom, influence how I work with my camera, lightroom, and photoshop now. Having made adjustments with my hands, timers, nobs, and chemicals, has helped me to understand why things work the way they do, and what can be done with color and contrast to truly make an image pop. Read more>>

Ali Brown

I’m a creative at my core. Since I was young I’ve always been drawn to art, music, fashion, film, theater, and photography. In 2005 I got my BA in Psychology but was always more a pulled towards creative ventures. I got my first camera in 2010, took a few photography courses, and I was hooked. It was definitely a struggle to run a business with 4 young children, and plan photoshoots around life, but I loved every minute of it! Read more>>

Holly Buchbinder

I’ve always been artistic. As a kid, I was constantly drawing and sketching, and as I got older, I became really drawn to American traditional tattoo style. There was a time when I thought I might pursue tattooing. I spent months just drawing flash. Eventually, I realized that dream wasn’t for me, but that process shaped how I approach design, and you can still see that influence in my work. Read more>>

Cole Chapleski

I learned through taking class and workshop, really. I started taking private lessons from a guy who used to run a studio, then went to the performing arts center here in Denver for classes for a few seasons, and now I’ve been at the studio I currently take class in for a couple years now, I’m in there every week. It’s valuable to read about the craft, watch people do it really well etc but it’s so crucial to get hands on, in person coaching from someone who knows the craft so well, and to see others learn and develop in front of you as well. Read more>>

Samantha Games

I learned how to crochet by taking just a basic class offered by my favorite local yarn store. It taught all the basic stitches I would need to make just about anything. From there it was just a matter of finding the patterns that interested me. Read more>>

Anduriel Widmark

I’ve always been pulled towards questions more than answers, especially when they can be explored visually. As a kid, I was constantly drawing, building, painting, making messes, and asking questions. That curiosity never really left. If anything, it’s become more focused, reaching across math, physics, design, and culture through art. Read more>>

Natalia Yi

I learned through a mix of curiosity, risk-taking, and persistence. I started by filming my friends with an old camera I found at home and learning how to edit before it was a common skill. Later, I gained experience working on music videos and small projects, but I quickly realized that to become a better and more respected director, I had to understand what each person on set was doing. Read more>>

Michael Jean-Paul

After a lengthy period of researching the proper gear, techniques, and learning from professionals, I put forth the time and money to ensure I can produce high-quality results. I paced myself accordingly and took my time in selecting the right tools to get the job done rather than rushing the process. The most essential skills boiled down to lighting which I took my time in mastering in and out of the studio. Often times, the obstacles that stood in my way of progress were the lack of willing clients and a studio space to practice in. Read more>>

Brenda Quetzali

I started formally learning and practicing visual arts when I got into the Osceola County school for the arts. OCSA offered an intensive visual arts program and taught us everything from sculpture to painting, drawing, understanding, conceptual, art and more. We even got to take a field trip five hours south to one of the biggest international art festival Miami Art basel. Everything I learned in the three years I attended at school was absolutely invaluable for the artist I am today. Though I didn’t attend college, my biggest obstacle for becoming successful, which I am still working on has mostly been mental and emotional. Therapy has been a an invaluable help for me to find my voice and dim negative thinking patterns that didn’t allow me to pursue my dreams. Read more>>

Stephanie Dennis

Learning how to make paintings and pursuing a professional art career has required a combination of instruction, studio time, a network of fellow artists and colleagues, and ongoing professional development.

I studied art in both undergrad and grad school. This academic training was really important for gaining fundamental skills in drawing, composition, process, materials, and art history. It also provided essential mentorship, a group of colleagues, and substantive critique. Read more>>

Austin Prario

The best way to learn is to do. Knowing what I know now, I would have encouraged myself to just get out there and create. It doesn’t have to be serious, it doesn’t have to be perfect, the act of creation is rewarding in and of itself. The people you meet along the way are essential. The skills you learn in the creative act are unteachable. Everyone is different and everyone learns in different ways, and this contributes to your unique voice. For me, the main obstacle was always a lack of resources. I didn’t know enough people or have enough budget. But you don’t need all of that. Create with what you have. Read more>>

Karina North

I have had plenty of mentors in my career who have taught me a lot of what I know- but I believe the best way to learn a new skill is to practice and experiment, I learned a lot through trial and error – when I first started tattooing I would practice on close friends and family until I felt confident enough in my muscle memory and skillset to take on clients. Read more>>

Darren Deicide

I learned guitar the way every good teenager does – by listening to music, experimenting with altered states of mind, and trying to find a unique voice within it. In essence, that is “studying”. I don’t think there’s a singular pathway to that process. The only way is to do it. Sure, it means making a lot of unrefined things you won’t like, but you have to do it. Some say you should imitate and then innovate, and I think learning from the masters is helpful. But I think the biggest obstacle a creative faces is being intimidated by this process. Stop theorizing and create. Be brave and open to improvement. That is the alchemy of your craft. Read more>>

Shiyuan Xu

Ceramics has a long history in China, but I didn’t truly engage with it as an art form until my undergraduate years at the China Academy of Art (CAA). CAA is one of the top four-year art institutions in China, with a structure curriculum unique to each major. In our first year, all students were required to complete foundational courses, such as drawing, painting, and design principles in both 2D and 3D dimensions, etc. From the second year onward, we immersed ourselves in major-specific training. Read more>>

Surelle Strike

I pieced things together through a mix of classes, obsessive doodling, and lots of practice. When you love something enough to spend hours on it, it starts to look like it comes naturally, or “wow, you have so much talent!” as people like to say. Read more>>

Ashley Zimmerman

My aerial journey began in the Fall of 2019. Up until this point, my whole performance career centered around dance. I grew up dancing at my local studio, went on to obtain a BA in Dance at Point Park University, and moved to NYC to “make-it” as a professional in the dance capital of the country. I spent five years performing in various capacities, but I felt that something was missing. Dance no longer sparked the joy, passion or creativity it once had, and I kept longing for something new- a project, company, dance style- to peak my interest again. In 2018 I began performing on a cruise ship. This was my first real exposure to circus and aerial artists. Read more>>

Weiling Pan

I first discovered my love for collage in high school during an art class assignment where we used colored paper to build images. I was instantly drawn to the hands-on process of assembling different pieces into something entirely new. That interest quickly grew as I started experimenting with layering paper to create depth—transforming flat surfaces into small, immersive scenes that felt like miniature theaters. Read more>>

Ardent Photography

Many people are surprised to learn that neither Rick nor myself went to school formally for photography or business. Wedding photography is a trade through and through and can be learned through hard work, learning all you can and getting yourself out there with clients willing to let you practice your craft. We like the joke that I am self taught and Rick is ‘Steph taught’. We absolutely love what we do and to learn it we read every book, attended workshops, seminars, second shot and took any and all work that came our way. Read more>>