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.

Aria Joy Prichard

I’ve known I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally since I was a child. I was always the girl spinning magical tales of fairies, monsters, and enchanted worlds for my friends. I would daydream about secret realms and hidden doors that transported me to magical lands. Storytelling was my first love, and it naturally blended with my passion for drawing and art. This is why I consider myself a “Visual Storyteller.” Read More>>

Julie Kingsley

I believe that creatives are plagued by creativity, that being a maker is something you can’t really help. Characters show up unannounced like little rambunctious beasts, plots unfold during a road trip within that “what if” I took the longer way, and the tiny details of life expand if you consider the metaphor of details. That being said, every single maker has had day jobs. I’ve personally been: a bingo lady at a nursing home, fourth grade teacher, bartender, ice cream scooper, seventh grade teacher, failed tech company owner, college instructor, chamber maid, Twitter consultant etc, etc, etc. Read more>>

Jennifer Garner

I’ve always felt drawn to a creative path, even from a young age. One of my pieces from college—last I heard—was still hanging at Ohio University, which meant a lot to me. But at the time, I chose a career path I knew I could succeed in and completed my degrees in nursing. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to retire from that field, and that’s when I finally gave myself permission to pursue creating as my full-time career. It felt like coming home. Read more>>

Birdie Nichols

The stage has always been my good friend, a place where I could express myself, let go of any inhibitions, and embrace the joy of creativity. From an early age, I discovered that performing was my natural language, and I began my journey into the world of performance when I was just three years old. I started singing in children’s choir, dancing ballet, and performing in church and preschool events, each experience fueling my passion and confidence. As a young child, I felt an innate connection to the art of expression through movement, sound, and storytelling, which has stayed with me throughout my life. Read more>>

Krishawna

I knew I first wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path in music professionally when I was a child. I was inspired by entertainment television. I watched shows like “In Living Color”, “Martin”, “The Jamie Foxx” show, “BET”, “MTV”, “Bobby Jones Gospel” and so many others. Read more>>

Gloria Aitken

I have been an artist my entire life, but the drive to turn it into a profession really started after my first daughter was born. I was looking for a way to contribute a little, financially, while being a full time stay at home mom. I knew it had to be something I enjoyed and I already spent all of my free time on creative projects. I had never considered my talents to be a viable option for a profession. I had always been told that “most artists don’t make any real money” and that I should “pursue something more stable”. But, I decided I wanted to work in a field I loved, and with my husband’s enthusiastic support, I took a chance on myself.  Read more>>

Alex Dover

I would have to say when I was about 12 yrs old, that’s when I noticed I had a passion to make music. I would listen and learn the lyrics to songs and recite them which led to me writing my own lyrics to beats and the rest is history. Read more>>

Alana Kinsey

I started creating art in 2021 as a creative outlet, mostly creating tiny doodles of pictures my friends posted on Instagram. I would post them on my social media and I started to receive positive feedback, which culminated in being invited to participate in a local art market. To have my art being shared with the public not just via my social media was nerve wracking and thrilling. The response I got at the market for my 2”x3” drawings of every day moments really drove me forward in pursuing art professionally. I got to see how excited people were to be able to buy a little piece of art that brought them joy. Read more>>

Jarrett King

I’ve always had a creative spirit. But like many creative professionals, I had to move through that notion that the world puts out there, that a creative career can never be anything more than a daydream. After undergrad, I worked at a tech company, making tech company money (which was a lot for a new grad!) and very much trying to make sense of the chaos that comes with the “real world”. After a couple of years, I was let go from that well-paying tech job and had to figure out a new direction. It was around that time that I signed with an acting agency and booked my first paid acting job. As much as I would encourage a young creative soul to seek internal validation, making that first acting buck was evidence that my efforts were paying off. Read more>>

Nicolas Clarke

When I was younger, I only ever engaged with films in a casual manner, never even considering the possibility of creating one myself. Yet it was once the magic of filmmaking was revealed to me — through behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube — that I became enamored with that idea, fascinated by this whole other world I knew I had to be a part of. Immediately, a passion ignited within me, prompting me to immerse myself in all things filmmaking and watch as many films as I possibly could. The COVID quarantine granted me additional time to continue my research and experimentation with my new camera, allowing me to produce a multitude of short test films to better understand all the different aspects of filmmaking. Read more>>

Kay Allen

Well, I have been in the Fashion Industry since I was a teenager, but in a different capacity. Once I stepped foot into this side though, I knew this was something that I should pursue. I was modeling independently, doing my own makeup, styling, creating the sets and when people took notice of it, I realized another passion was ignited. I love creating. I love making things beautiful, in an unconventional, artistic way. From that is when I knew I had to do this for a living, and not just on the side. Read more>>

Trent Peltz

I like to say that I’ve been on an unwavering creative path since I entered this world.

Before I could speak, you could find me shadowing my grandpa as he played the blues on the piano, or dancing in the shopping cart as my mom navigated the aisles of our local grocery store. If you were to ask my parents what the first sounds that came out of my mouth were, they’d easily say ‘a melody.’ Read more>>

Frankie Greco

I knew I wanted to be a professional artist in like 7th grade. Even before that, I would draw, but in 7th grade is when you start doin the, ” what do what to do when you grow up” type homework. I remember it well. I even wrote I want to be an artist in my middle school yearbook. Read more>>

Cruz Formusa

When I was in the 7th grade, we did a character building workshop over the course of a week. As a kid I really really really hated doing anything related to school but I decided to give this workshop a chance. They walked me through how to build characters and tell a story as a character. When it came time to present, just getting up in front of people and being someone else, even if there was only about 20 other people in the room, I felt like this was one of the things I could do right. From there I started to apply for High Schools with acting programs, and in the 11th grade I started realizing that acting was not just something I could do right, but it was also something I had fun doing. Both of those experiences were the big motivators for me to follow my dream. Read more>>

Kayla Mercuri

I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember! But it was a huge secret that I sang or wrote music until my junior year of high school. That year, I wrote a song I was really proud of, and finally got the courage to show my mom, and then post it Facebook for my friends. Once I saw how that song resonated, I started posting more songs and began working with my first producer. I then realized how much I loved the whole music process and that this wasn’t just a fun hobby for me – it was something I really wanted to pursue. As I started building my brand online and sharing my music, brands began reaching out to collaborate, and content creation naturally became a second creative outlet I grew to love. That was the moment everything clicked—I knew I wanted to build a career doing what I love in both music and content creation. Read more>>

Yulia

From a young age, from the age of 6, I knew that my life and career would be connected with music. And so it turned out that all these years I performed, wrote music, taught piano and music theory to children and adults, and it always filled me with joy from the process and the result. I can’t say that music changed my life, because I have not parted with it for long since my early childhood. Would my life be different without it? Yes, but it would not be me. Read more>>

Montse

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always been drawn to creativity. It has always felt like a space of total freedom—where the mind opens up, where there are no limits. I truly believe that a creative person finds inspiration everywhere, in the smallest details of life.

I started my journey in Fine Arts, which gave me a strong foundation to explore different forms of artistic expression. Over time, I naturally gravitated toward sculpture, working on commissions for clients and showcasing pieces in exhibitions. From there, my passion evolved into ceramics, where I discovered a beautiful balance between form, texture, and functionality. Read more>>

Jimmy Green

I began drawing and painting at a very early age. I never intended for it to be a career path. To say that I make art for art’s sake sounds a bit cliched but it allows me to search new ways to depict ideas and approaches to art. Consequently I make art primarily as a personal journal that uses imagery to reflect my take on the social significance of my experiences, observations, and perceptions.. Read more>>

Terry Minor

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally while in the middle of illustrating my first ever children’s book project. I was at an event and a guy and his wife whom I know personally approached me to have a conversation and catch up a bit, since they were visiting in town for the event. Somehow we got on the subject of discussing art and I mentioned to them how I loved to draw as a kid. Read more>>

Hailee Jones

My whole life, I’ve never really taken the traditional approach to things. I am neurodivergent, so even traditional schooling wasn’t for me. I was smart and got good grades, but the environment wasn’t one I thrived in. This alone made me realize that a traditional path to a career (ie, college) wasn’t going to be for me. I also knew I didn’t want the constraints of a 9 to 5 or to answer to a boss. I’ve always been an artist and a creative, so that’s exactly what I pursued. I graduated high school at the age of 16 (thanks to charter/online schooling) and immediately started training under and assisting a professional makeup artist. Read more>>

Boisali Biswas

I was always artistic ever since I can remember, my Dad was my biggest inspiration. I had taken art classes all my life in grade school but my pursuing an art career came quite by chance, when my art teacher started suggesting to my parents that Art is something that I should take seriously, because of my inclination towards it. That’s when my parents gave it a thought. When I was growing up taking up Art as a career was not common because it hardly had a prospective future. It was not a lucrative field. Read more>>

Cait Fanning

Since we were younger, my sister and I have been connected through art. We talked about the idea of starting a business together, which turned into a creative ambition to share our passion with all of you. A simple idea that developed into something special. Growing up on Cape Cod inspired us to bring our aspiration to life.Through the beauty of the ocean and beach, we were motivated to create art that would bring a piece of the Cape to your home. We are eleven years apart and wanted to find something we could do together while pursuing a dream of owning our own business. We used our childhood on the Cape as a guide to shape our company. Read more>>

Chris Kleinmann

I was young when I realized I wanted to be a filmmaker. I grew up in Ft. Myers, Florida, where being an artist wasn’t a common path. My family didn’t really understand or support my career choice—not out of a lack of love, but because it was completely outside their world. I knew this was what I was meant to do after landing a lead role in my high school play. Up until then, I had been focused on soccer and football, but in the spring of my sophomore year, I gave acting a shot. That experience led me to take a media production class, where my teacher recognized my passion and encouraged me to pursue it further. Read more>>

Lori Twardowski-Raper

When I was in second grade I won an art contest at a local store and decided that I wanted to be an artist. Fast forward to college I was a painting major and had to take a ceramics course. Ceramics was the most frustrating medium I had ever used and it was from this frustration that I became addicted to clay and earning not only my BFA but also my MFA in ceramics. Read more>>

John Lawler

I think somehow I always wanted to be a creative professional or at least once I knew it was a career path that you can have. As a kid I was always drawing and just really deep into my imagination daydreaming and building worlds with lego and action figures. Once I was in high school and you get a bit more freedom in choosing classes I took every art class that was available to me and had some really great teachers. One of my art teachers, Mr. Griffith saw some talent in me and asked what I was thinking about as a career and college. At the time I wasn’t really sure so I kind of half jokingly said I’d like to be the guy creating concert posters and album art. Now I say half jokingly because up until this point no one else had taken me seriously when I said that, but Mr. Griffith was like oh so you want to go into illustration or graphic design. Read more>>

Two 14

I was either 21 or 22 at the time. I asked myself what could I actually do to make a living for myself. What did I know how to do? What skill did I have that I could actually do. I didn’t want to end up homeless or a failure. Read more>>

Sheila Palmer

When I was 13 years old, my mother gave me a copy of Vogue Magazine. The fashions were wonderful but it was the bold print designs, rich textures and fibers, that gave me the inspiration for what I do today. It felt like my moment; I knew what I wanted to do and I never looked back. But the journey was much more complex. Read more>>

Jenny Newman

I’ve known since childhood that I wanted to pursue a creative career. I was that kid that was always putting on little shows for my family and singing solos at school assemblies. I remember my earliest career aspiration was to be a ballerina- I started dancing at four and loved dressing up, performing, and feeling the spotlight on me. As I grew older, I did become very aware of my parents’ financial struggles and I also internalized my grandfather’s warnings to choose a “practical” job. The idea of pursuing an artistic path felt very risky and daunting. But as life went on and I went through college, trying to force myself into a non-creative career became impossible. Creativity wasn’t just a passion; it became a necessity to live and breath. So I’ve figured out how to make it work in my own ways. Read more>>

Desi

I’ve always been drawn to creative expression, but I think my understanding of what ‘creative’ could mean professionally evolved in a unique way through my activism.

Growing up in New York City, I was constantly surrounded by art, fashion, and self-expression in all its forms. While I enjoyed walking runways at New York Fashion Week for designers like Gypsy Sport and The Blonds, I began to see that creativity extends beyond traditional artistic mediums. Read more>>

Christina Kiss

As a very young child I knew that I wanted to be a pianist.My Mom was a pianist and a teacher and my Dad an amateur singer.
I was surrounded by music my whole life.Even as a 6 year old child I knew that music will be my path in life.
I was born in Budapest ,Hungary where music was part of everyone’s culture. We have spectacular Concert Halls and a magnificent Opera house.Even at age 11 I attended concerts, operas and ballets regularly, sometimes 5-6 times a week.Thinking back, I cannot believe how much music I was exposed to. Without that foundation I don’t think I would be where I am now. Read more>>

Adam Olinger

I was around 12 years old when I went with my mom to “Jurassic Park” at the theater in 1993. I was instantly pulled into the brilliant story Steven Spielberg brought to life. That was the first time I really felt the magic from watching a movie. Granted, I grew up with Star Wars, Superman, The Goonies, etc. but that day at the theater with my mom really hit me. I knew right then that I wanted to dedicate a good chunk of my time talking about movies and creating my own entertainment for people to enjoy. Read more>>

J. Custodio

During 8th grade, I actually started off doing semi-professional song covers at my friend’s house. I sounded terrible of course but it was something I took an interest in. Going into high school, I found a group of like-minded friends who wanted to make original music. Taking inspiration from my top artists at the time like Lil Peep, Chris Travis, and Pouya, I started with rapping before I got into singing. When I graduated high school I attended the Los Angeles Film School to study music. I started delving into things like music theory and production which really reinforced the aspect of being an artist into reality. Read more>>

Harvey Robinson

Hi , I’m Harvey Robinson . I’m a 55 year old male model in Shreveport, Louisiana. Back in 2018, I associate that I know asked me to be in his fashion show . From then on , I started doing shows throughout the Ark-kla-Tex . I’ve been published for magazines like Marika, Pump, Figgi, and Artell’s magazine. Read more>>

Travis Flack

First started as sometime always did for a past time . Then one day I was rapping at the end of a djs set on the radio in my dads car while he was inside afterwards he was like that’s nice who song was that I said that was my words . And he pasted to cancer like 8 years ago. But he told me to do to continue to pursue and a career in it. And that’s just what I’ve did To actually create a art with musically. To express my feeelings on a beat in a way that people can relate to. Read more>>

Qrcky

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue being a creative artist traces back to my childhood in southern Virginia during the 1970s. The art world wasn’t something that surrounded me—it was a distant echo, almost intangible in my family’s cultural landscape. But despite the lack of exposure, I was drawn to it. I spent countless hours trying to emulate the styles of Chuck Jones, Norman Rockwell, and Bob Ross, fully immersed in the world of cartoons and storytelling. Read more>>