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.

Freyja Baileykaze

I think it was when I was around nine or ten and it was more of a “oh, art is an option,” because at that age I really wasn’t thinking of my professional life. I had just read the book Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. The book was about these two characters, a boy and a girl, and the boy’s story was completely told with words, while the girl’s story was completely told in illustrations. At that time, I was mainly writing stories and drawing only one of two scenes from them, reading that book I realized, “Oh! I could do this!” Read more>>

Brett Larson

I first became interested in photography back around 2010. At the time my wife and I were living in the midwest and took a summer vacation to Colorado. We spent some time in Rocky Mountain National Park and were amazed, I had never seen anywhere so beautiful. We came across a local landscape photographer in Estes Park (Images of RMNP…check him out!) and I was blown away by the images he captured. I knew right then that I wanted to pursue landscape photography. Read more>>

Danielle Golden

Originally, on my mother side of the family, we have always been in the entertainment industry. My dad is/was a Master Mechanic til the day he retired. Being exposed to the muscial aspect of entertainment, I didn’t feel was for me, so I went to school to study medicine. At the time I was obtaining my Master’s degree, the State hit hard financial times especially for education, so my university had furlough days .Read more>>

Connor Daniel

I knew I wanted a career in music when I was about 11 years old. My friends were getting really into Green Day’s American Idiot album, and when they showed me, I was blown away. My family surprised me with Green Day tickets during that tour, and seeing Billie Joe do his thing on stage made me want to pursue music as my career.

Natalie Allgyer

Like most artist’s journeys, mine wasn’t exactly full of sunshine and rainbows. I grew up in a home where addiction and alcoholism were the norm. I’ve got all the demons and dark humor that come with that type of package too! Homes like mine tend to produce one of two types of humans- other addicts or emaths. Thankfully I am the latter. And creative too! Life was complacently dandy until becoming a mother and moving to a new city. Read more>>

Bolin Zhou

My creative journey started when I visited a friend’s house in high school. He showed me his amazing artwork, and it instantly sparked my own artistic passion. I felt inspired and decided to create a portfolio with my own drawings to apply to a four-year art college. Once I got into the MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), it opened up a world of possibilities in various art forms. Read more>>

Juliette Morgane

I knew wanted to pursue a creative career from a very young age. I was always drawing, dancing, creating scenarios and dressing up with friends or building houses for my dolls. I was always very imaginative and would take every music/art class i could but unfortunately my family and immediate surroundings weren’t providing any kind of perspective when it came down to art related jobs. I just didn’t have any role models and school was not for me. Read more>>

Nathan Rospond

I first knew that when I started to take music more seriously, around 2020-2021 I I saw pretty good growth coming from the Just Blue project and was looking forward to where it was and is going to go in the future. After those years I saw even more growth in the project and ended up playing my first show in August 2022. It was at a venue called Bass Station which I have played this past weekend and multiple times after my first debut. And yeah now I really love what I do and am happy that I want this as my future. Read more>>

Charles Sponseller

When I was probably a sophomore in high school I was starting to play guitar everyday whenever I could. I never really liked being at school but we had a guitar class I would take almost every semester and if not the teacher would let me sneak in and grab one during lunch. Throughout the rest of high school I realized I didn’t want to do anything else for a living besides play guitar, so I started looking for a full band to play with to start gaining more experience. Read more>>

Tara Conrad

There’s that age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I didn’t decide on that until I was in my 40’s. My husband and I married at eighteen, high school sweethearts. I traded college for motherhood—a decision I do not regret. I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom who also became a homeschooling mom. I taught all four of our kids right through their high school graduations. Read more>>

Elizabeth Zuluaga

It was my first semester in College and I needed to take an elective. I already had a full load with all my classes I had chosen thus far so I decided to take a dark room photography class to balance things out. I knew I loved taking pictures and I always loved the arts so I was very excited to have these 3 hours each week dedicated to something that brought me joy. Read more>>

Raivon Don’tez

The moment that I knew that wanted to pursue music on a professional level. Was all the way back in 2018 when I quit my job at McDonald’s. At that time I was writing music as a emotional outlet to manage my depression, since previously writing poetry in high school. While writing, my stepfather who was a former Rapper himself suggested that I find a studio to record in. Since he saw that I had a passion for it. Read more>>

Yingshuet Lam

I developed my interest in art at an early age, often doodling on the walls of my parents’ and grandparents’ homes. Surprisingly, no one ever discouraged me from pursuing this creative outlet. During elementary school, I formed a close connection with my art teacher, who introduced me to the world of Chinese ink paintings. My passion extended beyond fine art to design, leading me to create comic books on A4 paper. I would eagerly ask my dad to print copies for me and distribute them to my friends. Read more>>

Jeffery Lawson

Well, this is such a great question to start with and is one that is near and dear to my heart. As a combat veteran, I can tell you exactly when I knew I wanted to pursue my creative career in design. Let’s take a trip back to 2013 when I was deployed in Afghanistan and stationed at BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base. One early morning at 3 am we had been woken up by the sound of sirens alerting us to incoming missions for the base. Read more>>

Affie Khetrapal

A few years ago, I looked around the empty office one early Monday morning. As I waited for my computer to turn on, I knew the space would soon be filled with the clicks of typing, spurting of the coffee machine, and the “can you see my screen?” of never ending zoom calls. I was filled with dread, thinking about yet another long day ahead in this draining corporate job. Read more>>

Tyji Perkins

From a young age, I’ve always felt that I was meant to be an artist. When I was 8 years old, I had a friend who was a few years older than me that taught me how to draw. I was so fascinated by his skill level at the age of 10. He would draw realistic illustrations of his family and friends. he had so much joy for creating and bringing his imagination to life. When I learned how to draw, I too experience the same joy although I did not stick with it I did explore other mediums such as photography. Read more>>

Rick Stringer

In 1984, while working as a bartender in Los Angeles, I found myself at a crossroads. Coming from an artistic family, I had initially resisted following in their footsteps. However, frequent visits to a local art store in LA sparked a curiosity in me. One day, impulsively, I bought an airbrush—a decision that would pivot the course of my life. I quickly fell in love with airbrushing and devoted myself to mastering its techniques. Read more>>

Greta Parulske

one. Even though drawing has always been an important part of my life, finding my own creative voice and figuring out what I want to say with it took me a long time. I never went to art school and had an essentially non-artistic career: I studied political science and after finishing my Master’s degree I worked in the financial sector. Read more>>

Rayce Lopez

I’ve always loved puzzles and mysteries. To me, producing is just solving constantly changing puzzles. I’ve known I wanted to be an actor since I was in junior high but I never planned on becoming a producer. It started on a whim. My best friend and roommate, Zack Hosseini and I started developing a film during the Covid lockdown and we liked the project so much we decided to wait so we could pull some funding together and put together a really amazing team. That’s how Chaos Theory Media started. Read more>>

Lisette Chavez

When I was in high school I attended a cousin’s graduation party at a park. During the celebration, my mother brought up a portrait I had created of my grandfather. One of my older cousins asked to see it so my mom asked me to return to our home and pick up the drawing. I came back to the party and opened the truck, several of my family members were crowded around one of my cousins who was eager to see it. Upon revealing the portrait to him, he started to cry. Read more>>

Gunnar Thorn

I would say around the age of seven is when I really got interested in wanting to learn how to play the guitar. I started taking guitar lessons soon after. Read more>>

Breonna Gildon Wright

Honestly, I never thought about seriously taking a creative path until one of my nieces encouraged me to create a TikTok account. At the time, I had been on Facebook and Instagram for a few years. I would post quotes, a video, or a photo every once in a while. I also remember I ‘d recently said a prayer asking God how I could encourage the younger generation about Christ. When my niece approached me, my initial response was ‘Girl, what am I going to do on TikTok? TikTok is for kids!’ Then, I was immediately reminded of the prayer I prayed. As a result, I created the TikTok account and it’s been an amazing journey of spreading the gospel of Christ ever since! Read more>>

Lucia Colosio

Mine is an innate predestination. After seeing the Bolshoi Theater’s Swan Lake on TV at the age of 3, I immediately started dancing in the ballet hall.
I remember that people first saw my long blonde hair enter the room, then my dance bag, then me. So small and tiny, but already determined and fully aware of wanting to make Dance the work and Essence of my life. Read more>>

Dennis Cahlo

I knew I wanted to make films at a very young age. It was an early morning that I turned on the television and Stanely Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was playing on PBS and I was transfixed. From that moment on, film always captivated me. I wanted to know everything about it from the sound design, art direction, cinematography, crafting the story, and of course direction.  Read more>>

Dhruv Patel

Embarking on my creative odyssey, the genesis occurred amid the corridors of CEPT University, Ahmedabad, where the tapestry of my journey began to unfold. Armed with a Bachelor’s in Interior Design, I traversed the cityscape, filling sketchbooks with the vibrant pulse of urban life and honing my keen eye for architectural intricacies. Read more>>

Dominique Muhammad

creative. I had dreams of working in the entertainment and film industry, which led me to pursue a degree in Mass Communications. However, the timing was not in my favor, as I graduated during the height of the COVID pandemic. Finding work in my field became a challenge, and I was left wondering what to do next. Despite this setback, I refused to let my passion die. Instead, I decided to channel my energy into my passion project – my YouTube channel, Dominique Imani. Read more>>

Paul Caranicas

i knew from a very early age – around 10 years old – that i was an artist. As far as pursuing this path professionally, i never really knew until i moved to Paris in 1970, went to the Beaux Arts, and was offered an exhibition. Read more>>

Michael Ganser

I started pursuing art in middle school onward. I loved drawing comics/Human anatomy and it just took off from there. Like most artists, I’m always learning. I spend most of my free time building my portfolio and perfecting my craft specifically through pointlism (drawings made up of many dots). While I strive for realism in form, I’ve also dabbled with contemporary and illustrative works to keep my skills honed in while allowing myself to not feel tailored to exclusively one subject. Read more>>

Ashley Watkins

I wanted to pursue something in the creative field since I was a child. I was born with the skill to draw and always knew that I wanted to do something with it. At first, I wanted to work for Disney since that was one of my biggest inspirations growing up. As I got older, I wanted to work in the gaming industry since I became a fan of the art department for certain games that I would play. Read more>>