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.

Jamie Zepeda

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally goes all the way back to my earliest memories. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember—before I even understood what a career was or that “being an artist” could be something real people did. Read more>>

Gina Dobson

In 1998, I was charged with murder due to a false report by my abuser about a miscarriage I had 5 years earlier. As a felon and a trauma victim, I felt like I needed to keep my experience private to protect my children. But hiding part of my life made me feel ashamed and lost–not a whole person. Read more>>

Casey Donaldson

The first time I absolutely knew I wanted to pursue a creative path when I was about ten years old, I had been given an ‘ICarly’-themed camera for Christmas. During that time I was very interested in Youtube and creating ongoing story plots with toys such as Webkinz and Littlest Pet Shop. Read more>>

Morgan Koewler

I actually came into the profession of teaching elementary art a bit unconventionally. I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the minute I understood what school was. I was that kid who made everyone play school with me – my sweet grandma would be my “student” for hours when I was a little girl. Read more>>

Mafiyo Rapkind

I’ve always wanted to be in the entertainment industry since i was an 8 year old little boy, watching shows like three’s company and The Jefferson’s made me want to make people feel the same way i felt when watching those classics. Read more>>

Emma Reinhart

I was originally inspired to play the saxophone at age 9 by Lisa Simpson – I had a giant sticker of her on the side of my case for several years. I started learning flute and clarinet in middle school and always took my musical studies very seriously, but I didn’t fully commit to a career in the arts until partway through college. Read more>>

Nicole DiPaolo

My first taste of a potential professional life in music came at the first piano studio recital in which I played. I was 6. Of course, this is not necessarily a pre-professional occasion for most piano students. However, we’d run out of time to learn London Bridge as my 2nd piece, so my teacher decided I could play a little piece I’d written. Read more>>

Adam Cole

I know the exact moment. I was 5 and in a local theatre Christmas play. It was The Night Before Christmas, only our twist was an age reversal. The oldest actor in the cast played the youngest character & the youngest actor playing the oldest character. Being the youngest in the cast, I got the role of Santa. The electricity from that audience. Read more>>

Timmy Renz

That’s exciting! I have gone through your text and polished the grammar and punctuation to ensure it is professional, engaging, and suitable for a magazine feature. Read more>>

Brad Benefield

My wife Natausha and I had worked together in our chiropractic clinic for about 12 years when we first started considering opening an art studio. I was the clinic office manager and she worked with the patients. When covid hit, we were using art as a way to de-stress after long days at work. Read more>>

Brianee Scott

My artistic journey began as a kid. Every Holiday my mother would buy me an art set. She always loved to do arts and craft. Also, my grandmother did sculpture. I have a lot of creatives within my family. I began started taking art serious in 2010. I purchased a camera and began taking photos of odd things in my city. Read more>>

Abby Burkholder

I think the moment I knew wasn’t loud — it was quiet, almost sacred. I was a kid who never really fit into the boxes people tried to put me in, but every time I stepped into something creative…. singing, acting, writing, performing, I felt like I could finally breathe. Read more>>

Guzo Borboa

I was 17 years old when I came across an announcement for a drawing contest. The prize: an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Paris. Without hesitation, I began working on my proposal. I grabbed some old watercolors I found at home and started painting. Read more>>

Stephanie Hansen

From an early age, maybe 5 or 6 years old, I would sit for my brother when he was a portrait artist studying at the University of Cincinnati, When no one was watching, I would collect his discarded pencils and spent paint tubes, I longed to draw and paint like him, I wished to follow in his footsteps; however, throughout High School my parents squashed that goal and sought to stymie my creativity, they felt one artist in the family was enough, forcing me into the closet, so to speak. Read more>>

Nina Miller

I first realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally in middle school/high school, though my love for art began much earlier. Since childhood, art classes were always the highlight of my day—this was a space where I felt both calm and energized. I was naturally drawn to color, painting, and drawing, and creating art quickly became a place where I felt most myself. Read more>>

Nathalia Roca

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was not one dramatic moment. It felt more like a series of small, steady experiences that kept leading me back to art. I grew up in Venezuela, surrounded by creativity. My mother was a painter and my father worked in architecture, so our home was always filled with crafts, colors, and paintings. Read more>>

Shania Waul

I grew up with creatives in my home. My dad is a musician and my mom is a casual painter. My father often encouraged me to move forward once he saw my potential. I started taking it seriously around the age of 14 when I saw a local newspaper article about Danielle Parchment, a young animator. Read more>>

Brandon Davis

I realized I wanted to pursue acting and voice acting the moment I felt that spark — that pull that told me this is where I’m meant to be. It wasn’t just a hobby or something “cool” to try… it was the first time something felt right down to my core. Read more>>

Leigh Ann Thomas

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally? Meaningful projects? Do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later? Being an artist is simply part of who I am. My earliest memories of drawing go back to when I was four years old. It came to me naturally intuitively and effortlessly. Read more>>

Aaron Colman-Hayes

In the summer of 2003, I was sitting in my sister’s friend’s basement while she and my sister were watching TV in the living room. Sitting right in front of me, it’s sleek, cold, black plastic outline calling out to me, was a PlayStation 2. Read more>>

Jill Hartfield

Since I was a toddler, I’ve been rocking to my own beat. Singin and performing has been in my blood my whole life. Granted, my first stages being my family’s kitchen table. Read more>>

Mike Greene

I finally knew I wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career when I was in my last semester of receiving my bachelor’s degree in psychology. Growing up, I was always making home movies with my friends and family and knew I either wanted to be a filmmaker or musician (or play professional sports, but I quickly learned that wasn’t going to happen). Read more>>

Kouka Man

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path was around 12, or 13 years old. My older cousin was in a band with his friends and started to show me his equipment, keyboards, microphones, and other studio equipment which they were using to make their own demos. This inspired me to create my own music and start writing my own lyrics. Read more>>

Nicholas Burdo

When I broke my foot. Throughout my adolescence I was trying my best to look good for others as far as a career standpoint. I made music on the side and for fun but deep down whilst creating, there was something about it that fueled me. I didn’t yet know what it was. Within the fun, a part of me took it close to heart. Read more>>

Elizaveta Kurilova

I think that was one of the first things I really knew about myself. I was always a creative kid – constantly drawing (on everything), dancing, acting, cutting and sticking. I loved painting old wooden furniture. I made little animal sculptures and cut stars out of milk cartons. I was constantly cutting something out and sticking it somewhere. Read more>>

Heather E. Schwartz

From a very young age, I wanted to perform and be in the spotlight in some way. I remember waiting all through elementary school for the chance to be in the school musical. But I wasn’t the kid everyone knew as the class clown or the most talkative. In fact – to my complete horror – I was voted “Quietest Girl” in sixth grade! Luckily, I also wanted to be a writer, which came more naturally to me. Read more>>

DebonayR The Chanteuse

I grew up in Jamaica, a country known for its rich culture , music and boldness. My family was colourful and musical. I was chronically ill as a child as comfort, my mom would sing to me and it would immediately ease my pain, I fell in love with music and singing through her voice and the Rhythms around me. Read more>>

Jeffrey Bentley

When my son was born in 2015. Up until then, I was mostly doing these things for fun. I didn’t realize what to do or who to reach out to in order to make this my professional career, because my family wasn’t part of the entertainment circles. My son was the one who inspired me to do this, even before he knew it. I pursued voice acting, which is remote work, because I wanted a career where I could still spend time with my kid and be there to watch him grow into the person he is meant to become. Read more>>

Varshaa Rao

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was betting on myself. I was on a stable career trajectory as a dentist, but in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I chose to become a professional artist. Read more>>