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?

Ruben Alvarez

From a young age, my passion for music set me on a path that eventually led to the art of DJing. Reflecting on my journey, I realize that if I had the knowledge and experience I possess now, I would have embarked on this adventure much earlier. Read more>>

Aaron Lepley

When I was 12 years old, I saw David Bowie on a Pepsi commercial performing “Modern Love”. At that moment, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was as if the world went from black and white to color. Read more>>

Samantha Sanders

I forage for and create plant-based inks, that are used in the works on paper I make, along with watercolor and collage. I first became interested in plant-based ink-making in late 2019. Read more>>

Lisa Alonzo

I was an avid fan of Bob Ross and learned how to paint trees when I was really young. But I definitely hit a wall- if I wanted to be able to make more representational work, I needed to go to school. Read more>>

Patricia Bellan-Gillen

People will probably be surprised when they look at my work…work that is clearly based in academic drawing skills, to hear me say, learn and perfect your skills but don’t let skill get in your way. Read more>>

Cristin Stephens

I went to film school in my late 20s hoping to pick up the tools of the trade in a classroom, which has always been my comfort zone. As it turns out, learning a film is like learning a language. Read more>>

Allyn Childers & Logan Howard

Both Logan and I (Allyn) have degrees that we don’t use to run our business. Logan went to college and studied Food Science, while I studied Early Childhood Development. Read more>>

Payton King

Funny story, I started by dating my Managers son before I started working at the Florist. I shortly became family as many do in the Floral Industry, but I really became family by marrying into it. Read more>>

Charla Murray

I’ve been a lifelong musician and started taking piano lessons at an early age. I attended public school in the small town of Brownsboro, Texas and at the time there was no school orchestra. Read more>>

Ruihong Liu

While pursuing my studies at the Art Institute of Chicago, I specialized in the fashion design core department, where I acquired extensive professional knowledge about garment creation, including developing collections, conducting research, draping, creating patterns, and constructing garments. Read more>>

KINGDRUMS

I learned to create music from watching my family members do it! I’m a visual learner so it didn’t take long for me to catch on, whether it was watching my dad play every instrument or my older brother making beats and playing drums, I picked up skills and the desire to make music from numerous people in my life but those two kick started it all for me. Read more>>

Erin Spencer

I never went to art school. I picked up my first paint brush when I was about 27 years old. While I had always loved art as a child and had pursued artistic interests over the years, I had never painted with oils before. Read more>>

NEIL TANDY

I got my first camera at 12 years of age and started to develop an interest in photography, but it wasn’t for another 12 or 13 years until I started to get serious about it. Read more>>

Lauren Metge

When my oldest was 1, I found out I was pregnant with twins. It was pure chaos 😂. I needed something creative to do, that no longer required physical material to create with. Read more>>

Suzi Knight

I started cosmetology school at Paul Mitchell in Atlanta in 2014, and spent 14 months learning everything I needed to know and more to get started in the industry. Read more>>

Vincent Marano

I always wrote and when I was young I directed and performed without ever taking a class. It wasn’t I earned my Masters in Playwriting and Directing, when a world of creative possibilities was opened to me, did I find my voice and tell the stories always present in my heart. Read more>>

La Shundra Worthy

I was able to find my craft through trial and error. I’ve always considered myself to be a creative and I’ve dabbled in various areas to express my creative side so it was primarily a matter of finding my passion. Read more>>

Pauline Jans

I don’t know that I ever thought creating abstract art would be easy. We’ve all heard the saying “Oh, my kid could do that”, but that isn’t something I ever believed. I grew up on a farm. I knew that pretty much everything requires work. Read more>>

Scott Howard

There’s really no substitute for just putting in that hard work, trial and error, making breakthroughs and making mistakes. I was very lucky to go to a high school that had art and graphic design classes, which led me to a design program in college. Read more>>

Karen Saakian

I have been tattooing for 12 years. My learning began with the basics when I first became interested in the art of tattooing. I spent a lot of time studying anatomy, artistic techniques, and tattoo styles. Read more>>

Rachel Lindo

Learning a new craft is always frightening at first. When i started learning how to play the piano, it was more like i just needed to finally start, What i mean here is, i always heard music and wanted to know what exactly was going on to create this sound. Read more>>

Sara Hardin

I’ve always been a creative kid, often doodling in notebooks during class. Growing up school was not a strength of mine, being dyslexic and ADHD, so I relied on my creativity. Read more>>

Jorge Luis Sebastian

Like a lot of my fellow musicians and artists my journey started at church. It was a small church that my family started so it was a very DIY (do it yourself) type of mentality. Read more>>

Carolynn Hayman

Even though I’ve been a balloon artist for well over a decade now, I’m still learning about balloons at every chance I get! Last year, I attended a balloon convention in The Netherlands, and that was a great experience! Read more>>

Tomo Jackson

My love for jewelry making started back in 2014. I used to work at Joann Fabrics, and during my down time I used to read jewelry making books and magazines all the time! One day I decided “you know…I can do this!” Read more>>

Kassie Sheppard

Honestly I’m still learning. I believe one should never stop. I’m constantly changing the way I tattoo, the way I see tattooing as an industry. The main way I have done that is by working with as many people as I can, simply by watching them do their job listening to them talk about their experiences. Read more>>

Geo Wagner

Being a smart a*s most of my life lent itself to stand up comedy. It was a small step to the stage. The biggest obstacle was, and still is, my ability to just lose all inhibitions and let go on stage. Read more>>

Andrew Grossman

Curiosity has been, and continues to be, the driving force in my creative life. It has been the primary motor in the accumulation of skills and knowledge in my craft. “I wonder what this will sound like,” or “I wonder how the audience will react to this” has pushed me to try so many different things. Read more>>

Robert King

I am a self-taught ceramic artist. This is not to say that I didn’t have lots of help along the way. Particularly as I was just starting out, I read every book and watched every video I could get my hands on because I had completely fallen in love with the craft. Read more>>

LeCrue Eyebrows

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I learned to do what I do. I kind of picked up things as I went along in life and constructed my own ‘language’ through the imagery of my work. Read more>>

Marie Levillain

I’m a practical person. I’m not really into theory, so I’ll do trial and error until I get to the point I want to reach. I’ve always worked like this on several aspects of my life and photography made no exception. Read more>>

Justin Key

Developing any craft is all about practice. As a photographer, my practice regimen revolves around my eye. I believe the photographer’s eye is the most critical component of the trade, it’s what defines our style and reveals the true artist within because it’s a mixture of our creative mind, our photographic knowledge, and our soul. Read more>>

Andrew Chang

I learned from a variety of sources, all of which offer their own advantages. As a kid, I learned a lot from watching youtube tutorials. It was so great to have this free resource as a child! Read more>>

Faith McCoy

I have been pursuing acting since 2016. I attended acting classes locally, but in 2022, this craft that I love so much really seemed to grow exponentially! Read more>>

Craig Lee Thomas

I think Stella Adler said it best: “Growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous”. As I’ve gotten older I’ve seen this idea manifest in two really different ways: Read more>>

Gila Rayberg

For the most part I’m a self taught artist. Besides taking a hand full of workshops over the years I learned by trial and error. My techniques are always developing based on what has worked, or not, in previous works. I’m continuously experimenting and trying out new ideas and materials. Read more>>

Rose Bruno Bailey

I started writing at the age of 38 when my new best friend ( now lifelong best friend) suggested I write poetry. I wrote for ten years, sharing my poems on the internet. Read more>>

Kathy Weiss

I was born into a creative family with father a commercial artist and mother a painter and sculptor so creative expression was alway nurtured. I grew up on a 100 acre family in upstate NY. Read more>>

Delonoe Baker

Since I was little, I’ve always been fascinated with drawing, coloring and creating something from my imagination. If I would have dabbled in different mediums and or taking more art classes, I think it would have sped up my learning process as a younger artist. Read more>>

Abbas Amir

With a passion for the art of photography, I consider myself a dedicated and fast learner. My intense fascination with photography ignited a relentless drive to enhance my skills. Over the course of 15 years, I pursued knowledge from various sources. Read more>>

Farrah Li

My time at Central Saint Martins had a profound impact on my artistic development. I spent a lot of time in different kinds of workshops like Casting, Printing, Wood, and Metal. It gave me a lot of chances to experiment with different materials and get the chance to touch them, feel it, and transform it into the work that I want to make in the end. Read more>>

Emma Blythe

I grew up costume making. I think the first look I ever fully designed and made was for the tooth fairy. She left a note saying she loved it so Im assuming it fit. However my first more formal bits of training were sewing lessons from my grandmother. Read more>>

Oswald Perez

I came into writing by accident. It was my senior year of high school, in the fall of 2002. On one particular day in English class, my teach Ms. Levy assigned us a found poetry exercise to do for homework. Read more>>

Nora Chrissi

I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life. I sang, played piano, and wrote all the time as a kid. I grew up around a family of musicians. My mom taught piano and flute. Read more>>