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.

Daniel Mata

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative profession was when I was in the third grade. For English we had these workbooks with prompts we’d have to read aloud to the class. One of the prompts was to do a news story. The class enjoyed the news story I created so much and the way that I performed that every time we were asked to do that prompt, people would be excited to see what I’d create. The feeling of giving off an incredible performance that I wrote has stuck with me to pursue this dream of mine. Read more>>

Korrie Shell

I never succeeded at sports and team activities growing up so once I learned that I could art. I learned that I could draw to have those same feelings of success and happiness. Read more>>

Sam Jamison

I knew I wanted to be an artist from the time I was five, but probably earlier like 3 or 2; whenever I was first introduced to crafts at daycare probably. I remember watching the Barbie Rapunzel movie and watching Rapunzel paint literal portals on the wall in her room in her castle, in order to leave the tower. There was also an extra on the DVD menu a painter called Amanda Dunbar, sort of an art21-type video. She had the coolest studio I’d ever seen. I think it was then that I decided I wanted to be an artist. I also remember my dad making his oil paintings of ducks and other wildlife in our basement, and thinking how much I admired his skill and how I wanted to be that good someday. Read more>>

Iyana Frazier

I knew from an early age that I wanted to follow a creative path. Growing up, I was always drawn to the arts—I spent hours singing, dancing, and writing songs, convinced that music would be my future. But as I got older and entered high school, my confidence hit an all-time low. I was in the process of discovering myself, and in that journey, I found my love for fashion and design. Fashion became my outlet—putting on my favorite outfits allowed me to step into the woman I aspired to be. That was the moment I knew my future would always be rooted in creativity.Read more>>

Ben Neill

When I was in my early 20’s around 1980 I had been studying classical trumpet with the goal of getting a position in an orchestra or other ensemble. However, my musical interests were much broader than classical music. musical tastes were quite diverse, and I was particularly passionate about the art rock of David Bowie and Brian Eno, the electro-jazz experiments of Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, and the sounds of punk and new wave. I began seeking something that would force me to completely rethink my relationship to the trumpet, almost as if forgetting how to play it conventionally in order to invent or discover an entirely different approach. Read more>>

David Daughrity

Looking back, I think I always wanted to be a professional drummer/musician. I’m told I started playing around age 2, and at 6 I was on a snare drum and brushes backing up my dad. He was an old school traditional country singer and rhythm guitar player. Cash, Haggard, Hank Sr., were all in his wheelhouse. I grew up with a pair of drumsticks in my hands. I was a good kid growing up. So my version of teenage rebellion was getting into outlaw country, southern rock, and 70’s classic rock. I was in elementary and high school band for seven years. I really wanted to take private lessons but my family couldn’t afford it. I went into the US Army as a truck driver at 18, and continued to play. Read more>>

Anna Tatelman

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the more an insomniac desires to fall asleep, the longer they shall lie awake.

It’s half past two, my digital watch tells me in the darkness. I glower at my roommate’s slumbering form, then try desperately to relax, ever aware what an oxymoron that is. It’s the first day of my last semester at college, and that’s a big deal, but not that big. After graduation, I’m going to be an editor in the publishing industry. I’m a shoo-in; I have several publishing internships under my belt and a rock-star GPA. My dream will soon be my reality. Read more>>

Jered Fykes

When I was 16 years old. Being a skateboarder since 10 years of age my creative taste took on much from that culture. The variety of graphics on the bottom of skateboards alone were enough to spark ideas for a lifetime. At 16 I began collecting art magazines and further researching the artist I liked that I found. That later opened me up to modern day mural painting and the vibrant culture with in it. It was then that I knew that making a living and traveling from doing what I wanted to do was possible. Read more>>

Kaye Formanes

Growing up in NYC, I was always surrounded by music. My dad plays both acoustic and electric guitar, and he would play along to songs that we loved. My mom would also sing to us in Tagalog (the language of the Philippines).

But as an autistic kid, it was harder to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. At one point, I thought I wanted to be either a video editor or horseback rider. When I was 16, I graduated from high school and moved to Seattle to attend Bellevue College. It was there, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that I realized my true path. Read more>>

Michael Connor

After a heart attack in 2016. I had a near death experience. Proceeded to start creat art for myself. It became an obsession. Read more>>

Lavonte Bell

Honestly, I can say it started around when I was 7 years old. Fell in love with Michael Jackson’s music and wanted to be just like him. The dance moves, the stage presence, but overall the way he was able to capture the hearts of the world, I always wanted to give off that same feeling and from then on I knew entertainment life is where I needed to be. Just who would have thought it would turn into: Read more>>

Will Landreth

Since elementary school, I’ve always gravitated towards art and creative courses. Growing up in a small town (Jenison, MI) gave me an opportunity to pursue these creative outlets. Eventually, I found my way to my mother’s handicam and started making short goofy videos with my friends. This eventually turned into a more serious passion as I learned to edit, film, storyboard, and come up with creative videos. I then pursued this passion further by attending Michigan State University, where I received my BOA in Media Information. Since then I’ve been professionally shooting video and photos, the passion has never left. Read more>>

Lydia Alem

I remember singing in front of my first big crowd in a talent show during my freshman year of high school. Before then, singing had always been my safe haven. It was a gift that gave me tremendous joy and healing because truthfully, I sing from the pit of my soul. That talent show gave me an opportunity to showcase that gift and let people really feel me. It was special hearing the roars of my peers because growing up I always felt like an outcast, always being made fun of or not being fully involved in things. I watched the video of my performance and burst into tears because I knew in that moment I was finally seen. I didn’t feel so small and invisible. I knew I found my purpose and this would always be what I wanted to pursue in the end. Read more>>

Alexandre Assuncao

Wow, that’s a really good question, I’m not sure if I can give just one answer because when we talk about art people often say “Okay, you are an artist, that is amazing!! But what else do you do for work?! “
Rarely we make the same question for other professionals. Read more>>

Joykenia Hill

I started writing when I was 8 years old. It started off as poetry. As the years went by, I’d watch a lot of TV and movies. After I watched them, I’d have all these crazy ideas in my head. I would reflect back on the television show or movie I watched, and then I started writing my own stories. With such an extraordinary imagination, I was filled with so many ideas. By the time I was 14, I started participating in the church activities. We would have small skits and short plays during particular seasons. In the beginning, I always became very nervous. I was so afraid to get up in front of large crowds. In school, I took a creative writing class. We had an assignment where we had to create a short story. It was part of an English Assignment. Read more>>

Zoë Walby

When I was five years old, I drew a picture that wasn’t particularly good, but it was a story in itself. In it, a monkey makes his way to the doctor’s tree house. Unfortunately, the doctor, who is trailing behind, gets knocked out by a coconut. I gave the picture to my dad, and he framed it. Read more>>

Jessa Spencer

I’ve always viewed the world through the lens of an artist. I don’t think there was a single moment when I decided to pursue a creative path professionally-rather it was something that was in me from the beginning and had only been awaiting the right life conditions to take root. I won my first art contest at age seven, competing against artists who were far older than me and while it was validating, I didn’t yet understand that art could carry more than just passion. At some point, art becoming a livelihood just sort of fell into my lap. Read more>>

Daniel Wright

The first time I wanted to pursue the arts was around high school. I always had fun making up stories for myself and letting my mind wander as a kid. But something clicked around 16 or 17. I don’t know how to describe it other than it felt right. Read more>>

Michelle Lopez

This question is bittersweet to me because this is where it all started. It was 2005. I was in kindergarten in Catholic school and it was time for our annual Spring production. This year we were doing Wizard of Oz, and I was set on playing Dorothy. Out of the five girls auditioning for the part, I was lucky enough to get chosen for it. There was nothing like the excitement that being on the stage brought me. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career as an actor. Read more>>

Nicole Anderson

Like a lot of kids, I started making art as a kid. Through school my notebooks were filled with doodles, and I always spent recess drawing. When I got to the end of middle school, I realized that there was an arts focused high school I could apply to. I joined a program at Studio Arts Dallas very, very late in the program timeline that helped me create an actual portfolio and practice for the various auditions. This was the first place I learned the depth that it takes to learn skills and create actual finished pieces. It honestly was the hardest I had ever worked in my life, creating multiple pieces each week in class and as homework, and taking extra classes to make up for the entire beginning of the program I missed. Read more>>

Nona Palarca-primero

Rather than one singular moment, it was a multitude of moments at different points in my life that all culminated and hit a critical mass, allowing me to take the leap.

I’ve had it at the back of my head ever since I could remember. But back in the Philippines, a career in the arts was always frowned upon, so I never thought much of it. I always knew I wanted to be a physician—it was the surest and safest career path, the one most prized. But I always kept the arts close by. I was obsessed with photography at one point, taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator from whatever copies I could scrounge up, and constantly doodled in my notes during class, sometimes at the expense of actually paying attention. Read more>>

Lezhi Li

I know the trope of “the suffering artist” is long outdated, but for me, the beginning of my story was still rooted in a profound experience.
From a young age, I found solace in drawing, using it as a form of entertainment. However, like countless other Chinese families, mine hoped that I would achieve conventional success. Both of my parents are doctors, so my path was set—I was preparing for the National College Entrance Exam, aiming for universities of medical school, law school, or a teachers university. Any of these would suffice. Drawing remained merely a hobby, something I turned to only when seeking refuge from academic pressures, a way to express emotions that words failed to capture. Read more>>

I remember growing up and witnessing the rise of the internet. I was fascinated by seemingly normal people being able to express themselves through a creative outlet. I was probably around 9 years old when YouTube was gaining popularity in the early 2010s. Achieving internet stardom captivated me, people were so creative! As I got older, I realized how much personality, artistry, and passion fueled these creators. I looked up to their ability to be so candid and relatable. Like, “Hey! I can also get in front of a camera and be entertaining!” Read more>>

Michael Sparks Keegan

I worked in a camera store after class while in college in Boston iduring the early 80s. The store was located in the center of the city. Boston had a thriving music scene and because of our location, and the fact that we developed film on site, many of our customers were in the music business.
While there I met a sax player named Robert Douglas Gay who was playing with the likes of Chaka Kahn and David Bowie along with many others and was also in a local Boston band that was hugely popular. Read more>>

John Diehl

It all started in 2nd grade. Our class went to the auditorium to watch a performance by the school choir. I remember when we got back to our class room telling the teacher, “I want to do that!” I sang Soprano until 9th grade when adolescence moved me into the Tenor section, where I remain to this day. I also picked up the acoustic guitar in junior high school and taught myself folk music. Read more>>

Jason Myers

I was fortunate in that I knew I wanted to be a musician from early childhood. I have no memory of anything else. While I certainly had other interests that could have led to a different career path, music remained the primary focus. Read more>>

Crissie Vitale

My path to becoming a watercolor artist was anything but linear—but I always knew I needed to do something creative with my life. For a long time, I dreamed of being an actress and a dancer. Then I explored writing as a fashion blogger as well as graphic design as a wedding stationer.It was through designing wedding invitations that I discovered watercolor—and I instantly fell in love. Read more>>

Ana Araujo

Since I was a little girl watching movies and music videos, Britney Spears and Hillary Duff were my biggest inspiration growing up. I didn’t know at the time what I wanted to become growing up, but everything related to performing, communicating, playing dress up in front of the mirror felt like something I wanted to be doing all day long. Read more>>

Kimyette Jenkins

My name is Kimyette Jenkins. Owner, Founder and CEO of Kim Michelle Styling LLC. Styling Is more than a career for me. It’s a lifestyle that I love to gift others with having a luxury style, an able to inspire and provide an experience that styling to can be and ” Where Style Knows No Barriers”. Read more>>

Jenny Carey

I started my new career as a student nurse in 2002. I had several placements, and wanted to thank them at the end of my placements, so for something special, I wrote a poem about the speciality placement, such as respiratory, I wrote a poem on asthma. Elderly rehabilitation, I wrote about strokes. I wrote several poems, and kept them for years. I eventually contacted a publisher, but although they liked them, they said that there wasn’t a market for them, but if I tried children’s poems, there was a market for that. I thought about this for several years, then during the pandemic, I contacted a publisher, who liked my poems, but didn’t like my illustrations, so I got the publisher to do the illustrations, at a cost, which were lovely. Read more>>