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.

Erin Kandoll

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always known that art would play a significant role in my life. Like many others, I faced childhood trauma, and art became my refuge, a way to heal and find solace. Spending my senior year in the art room for independent study in art was a lifeline that got me through those challenging years. As I embarked on college, I initially pursued musical theater as a performing artist, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. So I decided to change course, becoming an official beauty school dropout, and ventured to LA for school specializing in high-definition makeup for film & photography. My dream was to work on movie sets, blending various art forms of makeup and FX and to earn a living doing what I loved. However, the fast-paced city life didn’t quite resonate with me. Read more>>

Muddyum

When I was in 6th grade one of my art teachers took us to the Milwaukee Public Zoo. I was painting a peacock and a 4 year old boy was standing next to me with his mom. He asked his mom if they could buy my painting. His mom said “Wow that is really good how old are you?” I said “I am 11.” She said “Really? You’re only 11? You’re really good!” And I had this intuitive feeling in my gut and that is when I knew I was going to be an artist. Read more>>

Iza Ewers

As a young woman, my parents encouraged me to explore various extracurricular activities, which gave me exposure to different interests. However, it was through this journey that I discovered my true passion for costumes and dressing up. With a background in activities like dance and cheerleading, I found immense joy in freely expressing myself, and I knew these elements were essential to incorporate into my adult life. Growing up in a home with an entrepreneurial foundation, I gained valuable insights into business and developed a self-made mindset. This fueled my desire to become my own boss and create the life I envisioned for myself, free from limitations. Early on, I realized that performing, dancing, and showcasing my uniqueness were central to my aspirations, which has driven me to where I am today. Read more>>

Courtney Maulding

After I graduated from UHCL with my BFA, the first thing I did was buy a potters wheel. I knew that I wanted to continue working with ceramics and practicing my craft. University of Houston – Clearlake has inspired and impacted my life in ways I never imagined. I started taking classes there knowing full well that I wanted a degree in Graphic Design. My plan was to gain experience and to find a full time job in the design field. I never thought I would change my mind, but after taking the intro ceramics course, I quickly fell in love with studio art and the ceramics community. I have always had a passion for photography and my last semester at UHCL I spent my time experimenting with ceramics and photography, and how the two can go together so well. Read more>>

Nika Leoni

I knew that I was a musician and a creator at a very early age. My parents used to tell me how, when I was about 4 years old, I demanded to sing for any new guest in the house who had not heard me “perform” yet. Starting at the age of 8, I produced stage variety shows during my summer stays at my grandmother’s house, engaging kids from the neighborhood, and organizing special performances for the families and neighbors. At the age of 11, I found out the entrance requirements at the local music school, and without telling my parents, signed up for the auditions. I practiced my piano pieces every day after school when no one was home, and after I had passed the entrance exams and the audition, I then revealed to my parents that I got accepted. Read more>>

Caroline Taylor

Since I was eight years old. That’s the short answer. But I also wanted to be a veterinarian and an astronaut when I was eight. Art just stuck with me through the years since I could take it with me anywhere I traveled. And most importantly, it made me feel whole. Read more>>

Thea Kegler

In some way or other, I always expected I would have a creative career, but my path to where I am now is not a straightforward one. My background, from childhood through college, is in the arts; I grew up in a family of artists, so creativity, craft, and art practices were always an integrated part of life. But it took a long time for this to translate to a profession for me, and there was a chunk of years when I followed other interests, pursuing a career in the mental health field. Read more>>

Elena Fedorchenko-Tsukanova

driving passion. From the outset of my career, I delved into various creative pursuits. In my home country, I worked as a commercial interior designer, and here in the United States, I co-founded an Interior Design company. Currently, I am fully immersed in learning how to become a successful influencer, dedicated to inspiring others to embrace life to the fullest. Blogging, in particular, has proven to be the most creatively fulfilling endeavor I’ve undertaken, as it allows me the freedom to express my creativity in a way that resonates deeply with my followers, who appreciate and love the imaginative content. Read more>>

An’Nastizha Bowers

My passion for dancing ignited at a remarkably young age – even as a mere baby, I could sense the rhythm within me. Modeling came naturally to me, driven by an innate confidence that I couldn’t ignore. Cheerleading, too, became a part of my life simply because of the sheer joy it brought me. However, life took an unexpected turn when tragedy struck, and I lost my beloved father to a senseless act of violence. In the wake of this devastating loss, I found solace and expression in the world of rap. It became a powerful outlet for my emotions, allowing me to process grief and find strength in the face of adversity. Read more>>

Kia Tracy

Art was always my favorite subject, from grade school through college. It was a place that I could have complete creativity even if I was given a specific focus to work on, my teachers still wanted us to be creative. I loved that. In high school, I had always dreamed of becoming an artist and living that low-key lifestyle. Well fast forward a few years, after the birth of my first born, I had PPD and wanted a way to manage it without having to take medicine. Painting was that for me. It calmed my anxiety and helped me escape from the negatives of PPD. It wasn’t until a friend of mine suggested that I try to start selling my art at vendor events that I thought that high school dream could potentially be a reality. Read more>>

Daphne Sweetland

I often get asked about when I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path, and it’s one of my favorite stories to share. It all began at the age of 3 when I took my very first ballet class. With an abundance of energy, my mom thought dance would be the perfect outlet for me. Little did she know that it would ignite a lifelong passion. I fell in love with ballet and performing from the start, which led me to explore music theater as well. My passion for the arts only intensified, and I found myself wholly immersed in dance and other forms of expression. I swapped soccer for ballet and participated in pre-professional summer musicals, nurturing my love for performing. Read more>>

Cynthia Guerra

5 years ago when I lived Las Vegas and I had so many different ideas of what I wanted to do but I would lose interest very quickly. So I gave up and worked a lot retail jobs that’s when I felt so unhappy had very low confidence because when things would get hard I would easily quit. So I would get sad and bake haha! when I turned 30 i tales to my mom told her how I felt about myself and how unhappy I was. She was like “why don’t you go to culinary school and learn how to bake ? Read more>>

Sarina Haggarty

Growing up in the musical family, I have always been performing and being on stage. When I was about nine years old, I performed my first original song called reach for the stars. Since then, I have been writing and sharing my original work and it’s such a pleasure getting people to listen, and also relate to the lyrics. Being inspired by many different artist, it’s been amazing getting to write with them, share the stage, and cross paths. This also is what keeps things exciting and fresh. So, I think I’ve known for my whole life that I want to be singing on a stage, and now it’s still the same dream as I continue to do it in reality. Read more>>

Eric Jones JR

When my parents were married my dad played in a band with him and his friends. They used to practice all night and sometimes into early am. When I was like 9 and 10 years old, I used to listen to him playing while trying to get sleep. Around the age of 12 my mother and my father went through a divorce. After the divorce my dad gave me two keyboards and my father told me to put them to use. Around that age is when I figured out that music is something that I wanna take serious and pursue. Read more>>

Andrew Ricci

I realized that this music was the direction I wanted to go when I was about 16 years old. I didn’t grow up with much but this old guitar and a mission to find peace in a wicked world. Read more>>

Liv Dejonghe

At a young age I was exposed to a lot of great music. Some of the artists/bands being Carlos Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, & all things Motown. I had parents that displayed a lot of excitement for music so I’d see dancing & singing along on a daily basis. I remember discovering the Duran Duran album “Decade” in my dad’s collection and being completely fixated by the album art and then asking my dad to play it for me. This spurred further fascination with discovering my own favorite artists and collecting CDs. I loved everything about it. The music videos, the fashion, the way the music made me feel. Read more>>

Chae’ Jones

I was about five or six when I first knew I wanted to do something creative. It wasn’t until after high school that I believe that I could pursue a creative path professionally. I was always doing little shows for my family and friends. Wanting to see them smile. I remember I was watching a show on tv at a young age, it was my favorite show. The way a co-star delivered a particular line just rubbed me the wrong way. I thought that I could’ve said that line better, and in a sense the seed was planted. Being a content creator wasn’t something I had considered before but I found it was another way I could hone my skills. Read more>>

Frederick “Rootman.” Woods

I remember being in elementary school and wanting to be the next Leonardo da Vinci. My teachers supported my efforts as I practiced copying the great artist`s work, but It wasn`t until my mid-thirties that I decided to stop giving away my art and become a professional artist. Read more>>

Stacy Kessler

From when I was, like, in kindergarten – perhaps even prior to that, actually. When I was young, all I wanted to do was run around the house in a tutu; I remember sitting, in rapt attention, in front the television (which we called the “tube at the time!) watching “Zoom” every day after school. Read more>>

Erica Lindsey

I’ve always loved taking photos, but I really got into it and bought my first DSLR camera and lens set while I was living in Tacoma, WA in 2012. I had always lived in sunny places before moving there, so the gloomy weather really affected me. It was a difficult time in my life full of transitions and uncertainty. I had my first child earlier that year and was still adjusting to being a parent. Then, we also had to move to a new place where I didn’t know anyone because his father was given an assignment there. I was feeling isolated and lost, but photography saved me. I would go on adventures with my son and look for interesting or beautiful things to take pictures of and then play with editing them different ways later. Read more>>

Maya Scarpa

A lot of people begin their artistic journeys as children shaped by the media that they consume. Whether this be through anime, cartoons, comic books, or something similar… I’ve found that a majority of my peers began with drawing their favorite characters. While I had my fair share of favorite shows, I never really took this route. My mom is a painter, and from the earliest of my childhood memories, I can remember her painting murals around the house and doodling on papers scattered in the kitchen. As an artistically inclined kid, I was obsessed. I tried to copy her drawings, illustrating flowers and people and doing my best to draw representationally. Read more>>

Laurén Gerig

As I reflected on this question, I realized that there was never a particular moment where I thought “I want to be an artist”. It’s always been a through-line in my life in one way or another. I became interested in the arts at a young age, starting with piano lessons at age four. I am fortunate to have grown up in a family that fostered the creative spirit; they’ve always been, and still are, my biggest cheerleaders. When I was in elementary school, my grandfather won a free oil painting class in a raffle; instead of taking the class himself, he gave it to me as a gift. Read more>>

Tabria Williford

After graduating from college, I experienced a sense of mental burn out and lack of fulfillment in the corporate roles I was pursuing. To counter this feeling, I started spending more and more time outdoors, drawing doodles inspired by state and national parks I loved to visit. I soon discovered that this creative outlet was incredibly therapeutic for me. As I shared some of my designs with friends, they found my art exciting and refreshing, and they were intrigued by the stories behind each piece. Encouraged by their positive feedback, I decided to take a leap and explore this passion further. Read more>>

Jingxi Zhu

Since my early childhood, I have been immersed in the world of storytelling, crafting plays and novels that have brought me joy and fulfillment. The creative spark within me often led me to collaborate with my cousins and classmates, enlisting their help to bring my imaginative narratives to life. I found my niche in comedies, delighting in the ability to evoke laughter and amusement in others. Read more>>

Maria Davis

Since I was a little girl. Just hearing a beat drop I would just feel it and start doing my own thing. I always wanted to dance. I would reenact the dancers in the music videos. Having an uncle who did rap music and created his beats made it even better for me when it came to dancing. I tried out for the dance team in middle and high school, made the team and loved it. After I graduated from high school, dancing didn’t stop for me I kept at it. Read more>>

Jesus Axolotl

The origin of my musical/artistic journey begins since I was a young little boy. In elementary I had convinced myself that I was going to make a living as a famous painter. I really enjoyed coloring and making my own books anytime I got the chance. Even with the little time we got in school I had to make sure it was perfect. As time went on and I entered middle school/adolescence I began to give an interest to music a lot more. Listening to The Strokes, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, The Runaways, The Beatles, and pretty much any other kinds of bands that my older sister had playing growing up really shaped my liking of the kind of music I would be playing in the near future. Read more>>

Abner Cardona

Since I started reading comics and illustrated stories it became of great interest. After college and many different jobs later, I finally landed as a children’s book illustrator for an independent publishing company. Working as an illustrator really was what pushed me to pursue and continue to explore different ways in which I can be creative. Read more>>

Reilee Johnson

I don’t quite remember the exact moment I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally, but I had known for awhile into my dental assisting career that it was not going to fuel me creatively and I wasn’t going to feel fulfilled. I come from a family of doctors and dentists so to my knowledge that was the only way to make a decent living. I quit college after about a year and a half to try to discover myself and what I wanted as career, and not what everyone around me was telling me I should do. I quickly realized school was not for me and I felt I would thrive more in an environment when I could potentially be my own boss. Read more>>

Eleanor Maralit

I have always been interested in the arts even as a young child. I enjoyed creating art out of scraps or designing make-believe spaces. It was a way to bring my imaginary word into life. Read more>>

Ana Morales

I wanted to be an artist ever since I was a child—as young as five years old, in fact. I grew up with a dad who was musically and visually skilled as well as other siblings and relatives who were interested in the arts, so I was, in a way, surrounded by an appreciation for it for as long as I can remember. I loved to read, draw, and write as a child and I found out pretty quickly that I was “good” at art. My classmates and teachers and parents told me so. It became a huge part of my identity. Read more>>

PEI OU

During my undergraduate years, I had the idea of pursuing a career in the art industry, although it was still a vague wish at that time. However, in my second year of pursuing a Master’s degree at the School of Visual Arts, I finally gained clarity and made a firm decision to become a true artist, committing myself wholeheartedly to this path. The learning experience at the School of Visual Arts has provided me with invaluable opportunities to continuously improve my skills and deepen my understanding of art. Now, I am ready to fully immerse myself in artistic creation, exploring various mediums and themes, infusing my unique perspective and creative expression into my work, and contributing a distinctive force to the world of art. Read more>>

Cici Zhu

My name is Cici Zhu, and I hail from a small city in China. Five years ago, I embarked on a life-changing journey to the United States, where I recently completed my bachelor’s degree at ArtCenter College of Design. Presently, I am pursuing my passion as a freelance concept artist. As a young girl, my mother diligently enrolled me in various hobby classes, ranging from dancing and piano to art and mental abacus. It was clear she sought to nurture my talents. Among these activities, I discovered a deep fascination for art, leading me to explore Chinese painting, calligraphy, traditional drawing, and painting. Read more>>

Billie Burroughs

I’ve been doing rapping since I was 16 years old. I’ve always enjoyed rhyming and skill it takes to put words together. I love painting pictures. Decided I really step it up when I turned 28 and start to start sharing my creativity and ability to rap with the world. Since then it was been a pleasure just seeing the response from people who understand and relate to my life and perspective. Read more>>

Alem Belay

Art has been a part of my life since I was five years old. I started taking classes at a small art space down the street from me in East Oakland. The instructor’s energy was very welcoming, and now that I’m older I recognize how aligned that space was for me during the beginning stages of me discovering this gift. I got an introduction to various different medias throughout my childhood, but I gravitated more towards drawing in pencil, charcoal & oil pastel; the blending I can achieve with these three allows me to capture more realism in my art because I’m always somehow aiming for perfection. Read more>>

Brande Pa’trice

I knew I wanted to be in entertainment when I was between the age of 4-5 years old. I started dancing at 3 yrs. old and singing by the age 5. I wasn’t camera shy at the age of four and had been performing my own shows in my backyard, school, and any place that I could. I loved being in front of the camera all of the time. There was never a holiday or moment, for that matter, I let pass by without me dancing, singing, or simply being known. I also took vocal lessons, sang with numerous choirs, and also trained with other singers and vocal groups. Read more>>

Brian Shumway

Ironically, I didn’t start to pursue a career in photography until after I graduated college. After college, I felt like, Ok so now what do I do? I began to pursue interests in visual media that I had as a teenager, specifically in filmmaking. My friend’s father gave him a camera and I started to play around with that and really loved. Instead of going to film school, I went to an art school after graduation. Read more>>