Often there is no book or course to learn how to do what you want to do – so how artists and creatives overcome such challenges? How have some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community managed to learn their craft?

Dennis Edwards

I’ve been writing, directing, editing, and even acting in my own short and feature films since at least 2014, even from a young age I’ve always had an appreciation for film and the art of filmmaking as a whole. Read more>>

Jacqueline Constance

The way that I learned what I know about music and creativity was through some traditional and non traditional routes. I went to the High School for the Creative and Performing arts in Philadelphia and I went to Wilberforce University where I earned a bachelor’s in music degree. Read more>>

Rowan Lee

It’s been a journey learning how to tattoo. Not just the actual act of tattooing, but also the business and ‘behind the scenes’ side of things– what sort of booking system works for you, keeping up with custom work requests, keeping track of finances, how to set boundaries with clients, pushing yourself creatively, and how to give your clients the most welcoming and comfortable environment you can. Read more>>

Stefanie Contreras and Michelle Bell

Deciding to do the podcast was the easy part of our journey. Who knew finding a name was going to be as hard as it was. We tossed out many names and rejected many names for a couple of weeks. We didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into one specific subject. Michelle threw out Pop Culture Junkees one night and it stuck. We both listen to numerous podcasts, but when it came time to produce our own we went in completely self taught. Read more>>

Melanie Jean

So I have been self taught in creating my lettering style. I’ve come a long way from the wedding signage I did for our own wedding in 2017, and thank goodness (it’s a little embarrassing!) When I launched Jean Calligraphy Co., I took a hand lettering course to hone in on my skill + learn more about it & from there it’s been lots of practice and has improved with all the repetition. Read more>>

Emily Bessette

I began to learn art throughout my childhood. I was always drawing with my parents and my artist Aunt Pat who taught me how to use colored pencils and zentangle. My mom loved to practice photography, so she shared her knowledge and supported my desire to learn photography by getting me a point and shoot camera at a young age. Read more>>

Annika Burns

I started out as a hula hooper, mainly at music festivals and local events. I’m mostly self taught but have taken a few work shops ever the years. After a while I started understanding the difference between making it a performance, instead of a hobby. After learning other circus skills I think the most important ones, are flexibility, dance, and strength. I never new how much these things went hand in hand. Read more>>

Kimberly Corrigan

By the time I landed one of my first few ‘major’ roles, I had done enough radio and television broadcasting and public speaking to make me think I knew what I was doing. haha However, learning the ins and outs of performing a live theatrical role like the 1995 Off-Broadway comedy ‘Sylvia’ really took some effort, especially as she was a dog. I had incredible help from my castmates and director in really diving into the role, and the idea of being purely emotional, like a dog, eventually started creeping into my ‘real’ life. Read more>>

Kelsey Butcher

What was meant to be just an easy A for my “Senior Project” in high school turned into an unexpected, really meaningful career, and from there, I both practiced and invested in teaching myself everything I could get my hands on about photography. From Youtube videos to books to just getting to know every inch of my camera and how it worked, I dug into it all. I never considered it to have long-term career potential, even as I became more proficient in my skills and things became more serious. Read more>>

Bear Ryan

On Writing / Musicianship / Performing: I am a self-taught artist – ie. writer, musician, and performer. In order to teach oneself, you have to maintain a feverish curiosity and willful determination. You also have to overcome a lot of self-doubt and perceived judgement by those with “formal” training. Read more>>

Peter Topside

I started my writing journey about twenty five years ago. I always had a deep passion for creative writing and spent decades working on my skills, eventually self-publishing my first work, Preternatural, in 2019. It was all done on my own, with no professional assistance, making me have to learn all the proper ways to edit, format, etc. Read more>>

Alicia Colella

Nurturing Creativity: From Childhood Doodles to Self-Taught Mastery Embarking on a self-taught artistic journey has been a transformative experience for me, marked by observation, video immersion, relentless practice, and an unwavering attention to detail. As a child, my world was colored by doodles, drawings, and sketches. Read more>>

Andrew Fabela

I learned my craft from a very young age by watching others. I vividly remember being in elementary school watching others do art projects and thinking about how I could make mine just like theirs, or even better. This thought process of mine remained into my high school years which I think is when I started to teach myself how to master my craft of photography. I began doing research, watching videos of other professional photographer’s online and how they did their work. It took many phases of trial and error, but the main thing that made me learn from it all was actually going out and taking photographs, Read more>>

David Seal aka Mr. Seal

Mastering a craft can be really dependent on the opportunity to do so and the resources available to you. In the era that I first learned to DJ, there were no online tutorials, and the only way to learn was hands-on involvement in the scene. Most of what I learned for over half my career was done by either getting tips from other DJs and taking what I learned to practice or completely self-taught by ear—listening to my favorite mixtapes from prominent DJs and replicating that the best I could by guesswork.. Read more>>

Jhiakhana

I actually began by crafting short stories and poems. I took what I learned as far as the story structure and elements of poetry then applied it to my music. I took to music immediately, my passion was instant from as long as I can remember. Michael Jackson kicked it off for me. I was watching VH1 and “Billie Jean” came on I was like “what is going on here, I need more of this”. Read more>>

Brent Mendoza

Coming out of high school, I wasn’t sure what career to pursue. It wasn’t until a couple of friends recommended I take a photography course in college as it would be an easy credit to gain. I bought my first Canon camera during that time, and feel in love with the craft. Read more>>

Lauren Collins

I taught myself how to handpoke tattoo while in my last year of college, and in my little cottage in the woods in Boone North Carolina. I have loved the process of learning to tattoo, and I believe that every step in the process happened at exactly the right time. Read more>>

Michael Street

For me the path to becoming a cinematographer was unique. I was invited to a music video set and I immediately fell in love with the entire process. I enjoyed the team work that goes behind making images come to life. On that day I knew I wanted to be the person behind the camera. Read more>>

L. David Hesler

I was fortunate to grow up in a home where reading was a valued pastime. My mother always kept a stack of library books on the table next to her recliner, and my brother was a connoisseur of genre fiction. My father was also an avid reader, and I eventually learned he wrote short fiction in his spare time. Read more>>

Jean Rim

Carving paint is a self-taught journey for me, with many finger cuts and finding the bliss mode to do a repetitive action over and over again. I used to paint scale-like patterns in my artwork’s surfaces with fine-line brushes, painting each scale with a pattern. One day, as I was carving a linoleum block for prints, I thought, “What would happen if I layered different colors of paint and carved into it? Would the pattern I was painting be achieved? Would this speed up the process?” Read more>>

Star Cooper

I am a balloon artist and event designer. I’ve always been a creative person. However, I started taking my business serious when I got married about 7 years ago. I loved planning and designing my wedding so much I decided to invest in my craft as a designer. Each year I improved my craft and skill by doing more events.

Michèle Tambika

The more time and energy I invested in myself instead of other people was the game changer for me. I truly believe the moment I chose myself, things slowly started to work out. The key was self-love! I started working on myself, and my traumas, and understanding who I am and what my purpose is. I was healing! Healing can be uncomfortable and most people run away from it even though the growth you’ll make and everything else that will come with it is such a beautiful experience. Read more>>

Desanna Watson Watson

I feel like some people just rolled out of the womb painting and drawing but clearly God erased that part of my early beginning script. I can laugh about that now, but there were days when I was seriously bothered by this. I say this because my journey was not “she is a natural at this.” I actually had to redo every art assignment given in high school. Read more>>

Jimi Santoli

I started in the floral industry in 1988. I graduated from high school and did not have any direction other than i wanted to be a famous rock star (drummer) ha ha!! I walked into a flower shop one day and asked if they were hiring drivers, figuring it was a pretty easy, kind of 9-5 deal. and 35 years later I am still in the floral industry having run the gambit from retail and events to sales. I believe the skills and experience I have learned over those years have helped me in my sales position. Read more>>

Chanel Lee

I embarked on my journey as a florist driven by a deep-seated passion for flowers, nurtured during my childhood spent in my grandmother’s garden. Despite this early connection, I never envisioned becoming a florist, primarily due to the absence of role models who resembled me in the field. However, as I matured, I found solace in crafting artificial flower arrangements during challenging periods in my adult life. This therapeutic outlet sparked my interest in floristry.  Read more>>

Christopher Glenn

I Want To Learn All I Can About Being Guitarist Singer Keyboardist And Highly Professional And Successful Not Just For Monitory Gain But For A Peaceful Mind And A Stress Reliever Read more>>

Erin Kelley

How did you learn to do what you do? As far as how my spiritual practice developed, it was the result of my experience of growing up in a conservative household and never feeling at home in organized religion. I’ve always been spiritual and talked to what I perceived as God as a child. Read more>>

Connie Song

Growing up, soccer was my priority and music came last. I loved everything that came with playing on a competitive travel team and hated almost everything that came with playing an instrument. After starting on piano and quitting after a couple years, I had to pick another instrument, so I picked the viola in fourth grade. Read more>>

Lisa B. Evans

This is an interesting and at times loaded question for me and always a many layered one. Skills can be learned by anyone. It takes opportunity, some sort of instruction, time, curiosity, and lots of trial and error. For me the question is more about personal history, finding my voice, perseverance, and the blessing of support from those who love me. Read more>>

Punk Adams

Singing and writing was already in me.I learned more and honed in and sharpened my skills by soaking up as much knowledge as possible. I listened to so much music from Gospel, R&B, Hip hop, country, etc. and picked up on what the greats like Prince, Michael and Whitney were doing and practiced everyday after school growing up. Read more>>

Ryan Taylor Brideau

I learned to tattoo by doing an apprenticeship here in Los Angeles. I spent a few months assembling a portfolio and researching shops before getting hired to apprentice under June Jung (@tattoojune on instagram). My apprenticeship was about a year and consisted of shop upkeep, drawing drills, and eventually learning how to use a machine. Outside of this I did my best to learn from my peers in the industry by getting tattooed, attending conferences, and researching what I could on my own time. Read more>>

Olivia Anderson

I started photography when I was a senior in highschool. I took some photos of my senior classmates and realized how much I loved it! From there, I started photographing more families, more seniors, and eventually took on some couples’ shoots. Read more>>