Do you remember the moment you realized what you wanted to do professionally?  Was it magic?  Was it scary?  We wanted to hear from some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community and so we asked them to tell us the story of the moment when they knew they were going to pursue a creative career path.

ShirJuanda “Bounce”

I’ve known I wanted to pursue the profession of Dancing since I was a young girl training with Debbie Allen, Ailey, and various others. Being a woman from Dallas, TX and uprooting my life to move out of state and pursue my dreams is a daily risk I take to pursue my dreams and work towards making dreams reality. It takes a lot to move away from home, from what you know and start over somewhere else. I always knew I wanted to be a professional dancer, even in the moments I doubted the choice of leaving school and doing what my heart desired. There’s nothing more fulfilling in life than being your true authentic self and loving what you do and who you are daily. Dance is my ONE THING! Read more>>

Miles Prime

I knew I wanted to pursue music professionally for the rest of my life the very moment I performed at my first talent show at 7 years old I had already been rapping ever since the age of 6 as my mother was a rapper and writer herself, she would write a lot of my early raps and have me perform them in front of her when the school talent show came around a year later I was heavily in love with the art of creating rhymes that it was a no brainer for me me and my mom wrote a song and rehearsed it so much so that I pretty much had choreography for certain lines and beat drops within the song. I easily passed the initiation process and I was READY. Read more>>

Debbie Clapper

Subconsciously, I knew I wanted to pursue a career as an artist when I was in the third grade. I had started drawing daily, and a classmate and I began making and decorating little pieces of origami art that we turned into art “spinners.” The spinners were a real hit among our peers, so we started selling them at school. I believe they ranged from 10¢–25¢, and I still have a few in my art archives! Unfortunately, we got into trouble for selling the spinners at school and had to shut our operation down (which I think was a huge missed opportunity by the school as it could have been a great segue into teaching grade-schoolers the basics of running a business). Read more>>

Aurel Baker

Growing up, I lived my life as both a musician and as an athlete. When I was a senior in high school and it was time to make a choice about my college future, I never believed that my love for music would be anything more than a hobby, so I went on to study computer science and played college football at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor from 2011-2013. During my time there, I realized that my love for music was far greater than my love for football and transferred to Dallas Baptist University to pursue a degree in Music Business. After just one semester and becoming more involved in the Dallas music scene, I knew this was what I wanted to do professionally. For the first time in my life, everything just clicked. I finally felt complete. Read more>>

Emma Cager-Robinson

I hosted a Womanist Library installation with a local organization and could see the impact being in a beautiful space had on participants. More than access to books, access to beauty shifted how participants interacted with each other and how their time in the space was spent. It occurred to me that creating media could have the same impact on how people saw themselves. There was an opportunity to create a loving mirror of Blackness for participants to view themselves through. Read more>>

Andy Arens

It a crisp winter day in 1995, my younger sister and I were enjoying our time playing in the snow, sledding and having the kind of fun you can only have when you are 6 years old; not a care in the world. Inside, after an afternoon of playing, the TV was on while we warmed ourselves with blankets. As I was watching, a commercial came on, a new Disney movie was coming out, it vaguely interested me. I enjoyed Disney movies as a 6year old – the classics, Aladdin, Lion King, Fox and the Hound, but this one was different. this one LOOKED different, I had never seen animation like that and I was captivated. Read more>>

Charlene Pulsonetti

Though I entered college with the intention of pursuing art as a full time career, the reality of “the real world” hit shortly after graduation. I spent several years with art as a side project while focusing on jobs that paid the bills. It wasn’t until I moved to California that I had the opportunity to bring art into the forefront. Entering my local art community and building a client base took time, but it was inspiring at every step. It was becoming a profitable endeavor too, until Covid-19 hit in early 2020. Fortunately, I had my writing. Personal writing projects and my job as staff writer for a local publication made me realize that this was another creative outlet that I loved wholeheartedly. Read more>>

Brett Dyer

My first semester at Kilgore College, I had an amazing art professor named John Hillier. His passion for art was contagious. I remember one day, he invited our class to visit his home and studio near campus. His home was filled with art and books. As he showed us his studio with multiple larger than life wood sculptures in progress, I saw his eyes glowing with pure joy as he explained his process and the content of his work. I approached him after class and asked him, “So you talk about art all day, teach people how to make art, and then you go home and make your own art, and that’s your job?” He said, “Yes, and you can do it too if you get your bachelors and masters in art. Read more>>

Loretta Callens

Though I had worked in music as backup vocals, rhythm guitarist, producer, promoter, MC and stage manager in the eighties and nineties, it wasn’t until 2007 that I decided to step out as a solo singer/songwriter. I started attending song circles, festivals and music camps with a friend. Playing and singing with others around the campfire into the night was very inspiring. As a result I began to write more. My decision to pursue a career as an independent artist was made at a “Pickin’ In The Pines” weekend festival. It was after watching the evening show that I decided, I can do that! So I did. It has been a wonderful experience since. Read more>>

Jeanie Tomanek

While working an office job in 1995, my husband Dennis and I purchased an existing wholesale novelty t-shirt silk screen company. The designs were whimsical and mostly featured cats and cute sayings. We wanted to expand the lines and while I began creating new designs, drawing for the first time in many years, I realized that I wanted to paint again. It was truly an amazing feeling to know this was what I’d been seeking for so many years as my soul’s calling. I’d always painted the occasional work, but now I felt that this was what I was meant to do. For financial reasons I knew I couldn’t leave my job right away, but I began to plan my escape. Read more>>

Emily Peters

There was never a moment I didn’t want to be a singer. Way, way back before I had even grasped the concept of professions, I was just being what I was. So, when society presented that concept to my rapidly transforming baby-mind, there was no question: I am a singer! The questioning and doubting formed later, when society presented the concept of making dollars out of what I am and what I love to do so that I can support myself financially and independently. At that point, my thoughts scurried to find something “practical” to be, because society had also told me in so many ways that musicians and artists don’t get to be paid for their work, and if they do, they must work 2-3 times as hard as everyone else. Or, they have to magically know a bunch of affluent people who want to support them. Read more>>

Heather Petero

It is interesting—I never woke up one day and said, “I want to be a musician, private music teacher.” It really just happened. Looking back I can see how things just unfolded one day at a time, year after year. Read more>>

Megan Najera

It was definitely the first time someone asked me to do a painting for them when I was about 18. I originally started out taking people’s ideas or themes they had in mind, and I would turn them into a full blown piece. I remember painting in between my son’s nap times when he first born and slept a lot, and thinking this is what I want to do. I want to be home with my kid and be getting paid doing what I love. Some of the first commissions I did were collages of NOLA and Harley Davidson! I think after sharing those pieces publicly, I realized people actually wanted to hang what I made in their homes. Which was so wild to me, that was a huge turning point. I made a decision that day to never stop, I knew one day I’d be here. Read more>>

Samantha Maree

For as long as I can remember, being in charge of my own classroom was my biggest dream, and drawing and painting were simply my therapy. I spent some of my free time drawing, not because I wanted to make money off of it but because it made me feel good. It brought me a sense of peace. Looking back, I can recall a couple of times where I was fully aware of my talents and ability to draw from observation, including a drawing of birds I completed in the fifth grade and the cartoon characters my peers would ask me to draw on the backs of their field day t-shirts in middle school. Even after all of that, I didn’t take the time to fully nurture it in ways that indicated art would be a part of my future. Read more>>

Tommy Grills

I first realized I wanted to become a musician when I was working at my father‘s nightclub in Rochester New York in the late 60s early 70s. I was exposed to some of the greatest folk jazz and blues musicians of the day as I worked in the kitchen making pizza it looked like so much fun being on the stage. I bought myself a cheap electric guitar And plugged it into my stereo system because I had oil fire and that’s how I began I am mainly self taught. And learned by jamming by with other musicians. Read more>>

Cynthia Holsclaw-Francis

My whole life I was the one with the camera. I can remember using a disposable camera and then covering my bedroom walls with the 4×6 prints. I was gifted my first real camera at 13 and took off running. I joined yearbook club in high school and that is when I really felt passionate about photography… I loved being in the darkroom developing my own negatives and prints. Developing the negatives was harder but seeing your photo come to live under the red lights was so gratifying. Read more>>

Ashliegh Lisset

I should start off by saying, that I’ve been singing ever since I could talk, or so my parents say! However, I didn’t know that I would pursue music until much later in my life. It wasn’t until I was 11 years old and my father, who was a sergeant in the United States Army was killed in action. This is a very sad, but pivotal moment for me and what I would decide to do for the rest of my life. Music became my coping mechanism, and by the time I turned 12 I was performing every single weekend. From festivals, to the Texas Opry circuit, pretty much anywhere that would book me. After a few years of performing, a vocal coach that I was working with invited me out to Nashville to record in a real studio for the very first time. I was 15, and I remember that day very well, because it was the day that I decided that music was going to be the rest of my life. From the moment I stepped into the vocal booth it felt like home. Read more>>

Brandon Marshall

When I was 13, my creative minds eye burst to life! As an adolescent, I grew up really badly, as well as constantly being in a new home or school. I never really kept the same friends for long and eventually grew apart from the ones I did. We were on a roof, in Culver City CA, myself, my good friend Jr at the time and his older brother Jerry. Well, Jerry was into Rap, and I didn’t personally realize the artistic side (or for me, my outlet in life) of it at the point. So suddenly Jerry and his friends were free styling, and as they’re rhyming and putting words together, it hit me for the first time that you could SAY ANYTHING… It was the most powerful moment for me in my entire life. It gave me the freedom to talk about my mom, my dad, any abuse or ANYTHING that kind of upset me. As a kid, I was really angry. Read more>>

Deborah Hartigan Viestenz

I never had a choice about being creative. Even as a kid, my mind seemed to work differently than other children. I was happiest down at the brook at the end of the street I grew up on, watching water, rocks and patterns created by the shifting water’s path. It was my grandmother Rosemary, an accomplished painter, who was the real catalyst. She not only inspired me to paint, but taught me the importance of patience and perseverance. At the time, I was taking oil painting lessons three times a week from a local master. I wanted to learn to paint what I saw–the reason all of my work is in some way or another inspired by nature. Read more>>

sarah grossman

I feel like I’ve known almost my whole life but I wanted to be in a creative field. A moment that stands out to me as a turning point is when my aunt and uncle, who are both artists, gave me a set of kids art books at around 8 years old. They were stories about famous artists like Vincent van Gogh and Mary Cassatt and at that moment I became fascinated with what it meant to be an artist. Read more>>

Lori Landis

A surprise came when I went back to college in my early 50s. I was dealing with empty nest syndrome when I found an elective in drawing. I drew stick figures so this was a challenge. But I found with a lot of drawing and drawing I became better. Then the class evolved to paint and since I love color this was magic to me. My husband and I had been to Arizona in the past but it was calling to us to move from the plains to Scottsdale AZ. I went to classes at Scottsdale Artists met other artists and I decided to go for it. My surprise was when a gallery on Main St where all the galleries were, accepted me! My first sale came within two weeks where it traveled to Ohio. The gallery people were super helpful through my years with them and that followed being in Galleries in Florida, Oregon Telluride and Scottsdale Read more>>

Justin Mesteller

I have always been passionate about art since I can remember, but the first time I felt the pull to pursue a career in an art field was in my senior year in high school. Our senior art class was entering a regional competition to design a logo for an event at the Toledo Zoo. Each student was asked to create designs to capture the theme and message of the event. It was a masquerade ball fundraiser to benefit the new artic exhibit at the zoo “Mask-zoo-rade”. It was in the process of refining the logo designs to hopefully meet the clients’ expectations that I realized design could be fulfilling. Art had been so personal before this with drawing, painting and other fine art exercises. This allowed me to communicate an idea to others that captured a feeling or emotion when they see it. I ended up winning the competition that year and getting accolades in a local newspaper and that was it… I was hooked! Read more>>

Mystix Panda

Growing up I was a theater kid. I was always dressing up and having my grandmother teach me how to make my own clothes and costumes. Then growing up going the Ren Faires and even being in theater really made my fascination with costuming increase over time. Finally, ( since growing up loving comics, anime, art, Disney, and singing etc .) A good friend ,who is my beat friend , introduced me to conventions and cosplaying. It was so riveting and I felt like I was finally home. So for years I had attended and started really being in love and one day i was asked if I would ever guest and I was like….. sure sounds fun and from that moment on I was hooked lol. As for my art I have been drawing all my life and it helps so much when making my costumes so I feel like I sell art in many ways and it makes me so happy to have my love and passion shared with others. Read more>>

Jennifer Armstrong

I think that the first time that I had the confidence to try to purse art on a profession level was when I when one of my works was chosen to be a part of the National Academy of Medicine’s permanent online gallery titled “Expressions of Clinician Well Being” in Washington D.C. Of course, it was an honor to be chosen to participate on such a national level but, it was the first time that I was willing to embrace the idea that someone other than my family and close friends could appreciate by art. That opportunity lead to my work being featured on the cover page of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management , December 2019 edition. Read more>>

Christine Miller

I think I am one of the lucky few that discovered my passion as a child. I remember when I was in the third grade I learned how to knit. Knitting was such a passion then, I would stand against the school building during recess and just knit away. When I was in the fourth grade and was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my response was, “An artist”. Yarn and thread were always between my fingers and I had an insatiable desire to create things from fiber, cloth, and thread. In addition to knitting, I learned how to embroider and sew my own clothes by the time I was in the sixth grade. When my family traveled for summer vacations, one of the mandatory stops in any locale was the yarn shop if there was one! My mother and grandmother were my early teachers, and they kept me in a constant supply of materials, instruction books, and patterns. Read more>>

Tricia Copeland Brzostowicz

On the eve of my 20th High School reunion I began to reflect on my journey. I felt drawn to chronicling my experience in overcoming anorexia perhaps to explain my path, but more importantly to share the message that recovery is possible. I started to write a story about a girl who, like me, developed anorexia after some traumatizing events. As a stay at home mom with young kids, writing this story after I’d put them to bed became my entertainment. I loved creating the characters, storylines, dialogue, and plot. I could visualize the story playing out in my head and I loved continuing this character’s journey. When I share my first manuscript with several friends, they begged to hear learn more and convinced me that others would love it to. Read more>>

Brenda Adelman

The first time I knew I wanted and could pursue my dream of acting as a career came when I shared my life story on stage, in Los Angeles, in a one-person show I wrote and acted in. Experiencing how moved the audience was by the journey I took them on in that hour made me realize I needed to continue. Honestly, I was so happy to be expressing myself artistically that I didn’t mind that the producer took all the ticket sales during that multiple week run. I had been an actor for several years by then but never understood that I could make a living at it until then.. Read more>>

Rachel Muldez

I was a Pre-Med student at Baylor University at the time, and I had no intention of using my artistic skill for anything more than a hobby. Since I was 7 years old I have taken art lessons. In high school, I had an amazing art teacher who taught me to draw and paint better than I knew I could. But, in college, my goal was to become a surgeon. In my junior year, I took my first college art class. It was a hand drawn graphics course that I believed I would enjoy. From the very first assignment, I was hooked by the competitive nature of the other art students. Yes, we worked side by side and enjoyed each other’s company, but the competition was intense. It was the same in my science classes, but I didn’t feel as compelled to rise to the top of my science classes. I was happy just learning. Read more>>