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.

Helen DeRamus

My interest is art started at an early age thanks to my family who taught me the value of art in my life. My aunt gave me books about artists at the time I was learning to read. She was in love with the art of Van Gogh and soon I was too. I was still in elementary school when I and my two sisters started lessons in drawing, sculpture, music and dance. My third grade teacher asked me to draw flowers on a mural and from that moment I was in awe of the act of creation. Read more>>

Royce Hall

The first moment that I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally, as an actor, was in 2013. As a musician/recording artist, I knew such when I was a teenager. As an actor, during my childhood and even into my collegiate years, acting was not an interest of mine. I valued the art form, applauded the gift within other people, and was even cast in my first stage play around 10 years old as a main character however, my interest pursuing acting didn’t peak until adulthood. Many years into enjoying the talents of Tyler Perry, I realized acting was a path I desired but initially I simply wanted to be cast in his productions. At the time, I was living in north Florida and traveling to Atlanta to perform solely as a recording artist. Per the suggestion of a friend to a screenwriter/director, I was cast as a series regular in a digital series filmed in Atlanta. The moment I decided to enroll in acting classes led by Terry J. Vaughn and Tommy Ford, before relocating to Atlanta and drove here a few times a week for months, and soon after relocating, was cast in a stage play (Lying in Bed), yet again at someone’s suggestion to the director (Cole Thomas), along with every moment I entered every class session and with every rehearsal and performance, I knew I truly wanted more from acting. Read More>>

Matt Grigsby

I like to say I came out the womb singing, as disturbing an image as that is, and I was involved in every music project I could be as a small child, be it at elementary school or at church. But the real moment I learned how powerful music could be wasn’t from a performance or a teacher, it was actually from an infomercial. I remember being up past my bedtime when an advertisement for a Paul McCartney and the Wings album came on the TV. Read more>>

Josh Stein

I have done many different things over the years, from manual kitchen, warehouse, and vineyard work to teaching, writing articles and monthly columns, and running my and others’ businesses as an employee, consultant, and owner. None of that was what I really wanted to do, just what I found myself doing by having come from very little materially but with a willingness to never turn down any opportunity. Read more>>

Isiah Haji

I knew earlier on, probably between 11 -13 years old, that I wanted pursue a creative path professionally. I was introduced to dance music and allowed to freely use a computer around the same time and with that came the discovery of rabbit holes. Well, I went down one and found this entire world that intrigued me in a way that nothing had before. Over those years I became obsessed with every aspect of dance music and events. Read more>>

Tabitha Paige Schmitt

I always knew I was destined to be an artist. It wasn’t even a question for me. It was just my identity. I had been painting professionally since I was 13 as a muralist in Houston, Tx and being an artist was simply who I was. However, when I began to think about college and a major, I started to question being an artist. I had heard the label “starving artist” countless times and was not sure that it was a path that was safe to pursue. Read more>>

Nikki Berry

My journey of being a singer started a long time ago as a little girl in Beaumont, Texas; but life changing events propelled me to pursue singing professionally. I began to realize that life was too short not to follow my dreams and passions. After hearing different confirming messages of honoring your gifts and properly using the time you have left on this earth; I decided it was my time to become a recording artist. Read more>>

Osei Ovid

Although it happened several times, that I experienced the true pursuit of a creative/artistic path, the first time definitely is the most memorable. It’s Monday morning I remember waking up early, breakfast quickly inhaled, Jansport backpack full of homework assignments, cds, camera equipment, and all the black&white film I could carry. I’m rushing out the front door on my way to 1st period basketball practice at Tom C. Clark high school. Read more>>

Frank Herfort

Until the last day of school, and that was 12 years, I didn’t really know what I should or wanted to do when I was young. But I knew for a fact that I didn’t want to spend another 12 years or more in a locked room in the same building. During these last school days we had to do an internship in a company or business to feel some work air. That wasn’t easy either, because where should I go? I already took photographs for some years, starting at around 14 years or so and I liked it really much to be in my own world and show these to other people. Read more>>

PLURTHLINGS

There are 2 of us working on the music and artistic side of this project, so we both had different moments in life when we started to pursue full-time careers as professional artists. Monsoon first knew that he wanted to be a professional DJ and music producer back in 2009 when he performed at a First Friday Art Walk. At that point, he played drums in a band, and he knew that he wanted to be a musician, but he only had recently discovered DJing and producing on his own. Read more>>

Alexandra Schmeling

During the pandemic, I started doing watercolor pet portraits for local animal shelters. People would donate money to the shelter and in return I would paint them a custom pet portrait. I did hundreds of portraits this way and raised over $10k, but I thought that was where it stopped. After the fundraisers were over, I kept getting approached to do more watercolors. At first I declined but eventually I realized that I had to keep going with my art, and starting a business was the way for me to keep doing that. Read more>>

Astasia Miguel

At the age of 3, I wrote my first song. My grandparents made me sing and travel with their choir as a kid and I loved. At the age of 15, I started styling hair and creating clothing. I always styled my friends but soon the older church women wanted my services too. As I got older I realized my passion was Music & Fashion. I went on to release multiple music projects and write in over 6 genres. Read more>>

Blossom Nicole

As I child, I had it rough. However, creative expression was my escape. I loved being on stage and amongst people who weren’t afraid of the spotlight. At the age of 9, I sat down with my neice and nephew (my bother is a lot older than me, so his kids and I were close in age) and we wrote songs and memorized them. Our mission was to be famous hip hop artists and performers. To this day, that motivates me to take my creativity seriously. Of course, I know I may never be famous, but I want to at least be happy in my element. I’m happiest when I’m creating or helping other creatives. Read more>>