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.

Bahar Gozmener

When I was in preschool I wrote in somebody’s friendship book that when I grow up I want to become a ballerina. I must’ve been around 4 or 5 years old. Read more>>

Coral Martin

I began taking dance classes around age two. As a young person I also was drawing constantly, on nearly any surface I could find (my parents found a few originals on the inside of lampshades). Read more>>

Jamar Lockhart

It honestly took me awhile to realize that creating art was my true passion. I really took my gift for granted because I was able to tap into my artistic side without much effort. I soon realized that this was truly a gift and began to take it serious and work at it. Read more>>

Awele Emili

As a child, art was already a significant part of my life, more of a hobby than anything else. Just before graduating from my undergraduate program in 2017, I had the opportunity to design a comic for the European Union and UN Women focusing on Gender Equality. Read more>>

Shiela Mae

I have always loved art. My earliest childhood memories always include sitting around a table and drawing or coloring. In elementary school I entered the local art contests and to be perfectly honest, I loved the accolades and winning awards. Read more>>

Tracy Duck

Growing up I was always surrounded by art. My family is all pretty creative, so I was just in my genetics. When I was little I always wanted to be a art teacher. Over the years I have had the opportunity to do just that. Read more>>

Jeff Macolino

I have battled depression throughout my life. After a particularly bad spell, I came to the realization, appropriately enough with a therapist, that if I continue to do the same thing over and over again that my life would not change for the better. Read more>>

Tatjana Kunst

I was probably about 16 when i really decided to pursue art as career and not just a passionate hobby. I worked for my parents on the weekends at there salon and realized very quickly that anything outside of the creative field would make me miserable. Read more>>

Shady Radical

I have always been very interested in school and very high achieving academically. When I first went away to college, I had major culture shock and performed very poorly. In my third year I was offered the opportunity to study art and architecture in Brazil. Read more>>

Jeremy Castle

I began taking guitar lessons when I was a senior in high school. I began writing songs when I was in college. At first, I mainly wanted to learn to play songs by some of my favorite artists. Read more>>

Nuwan Sirimanna

I guess I’ve always loved making art, but I didn’t think about doing it for a living until everything slowed down during the lockdown. Back in high school, I used to paint whenever I had some free time. Read more>>

Madelyn Burnham

Being an artist is something that has always been a part of my life- I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Creating characters, drawing out comics, writing stories. Art grew up with me, and something that started as a hobby became a passion. Read more>>

Joanna Dyer

I wasn’t very good at school, at least not academically. I was diagnosed with a learning disability called Landau Kleffner. Yeah, that’s ok, no one else has heard of it. Read more>>

Karl-Frederic Anctil

When I was 4, my mother showed me a book listing all the classic professions – firefighter, policeman, baker, astronaut and so on. Read more>>

Aka Luvéé

I knew at the age of five, I discovered that I can sing at a very young age. I used to listen to my grandmother sing all the time and admire her voice. I was raised into a family that had musical and artistic talents. Read more>>

Beth Howard

The desire to create and even to market my creations was there most of my life. As a kid I would set up tables full of art and crafts I had made and let my family “shop” them. Read more>>

Shan Zhou

Certainly, here’s a revised version with a more structured and professional tone: Growing up in a non-artistic family, I was steered towards traditional paths of success by my parents, such as becoming a doctor or lawyer. Read more>>

Chris Hndrixx

I knew at a very young age that the normal 9-5 job for the rest of my life wasn’t the move for me. I started making music just to see if i could and what it would sound like, then i fell in love with it. Read more>>

Olga Hilderbraly

I knew that the artistic industry was for me when I started high school I naturally felt drawn to art and learning more about it, I was constantly going to art classes to enhance my skills and getting advice from mentors and teachers, I also naturally found myself watching tutorials and constantly practicing every day. Read more>>

David Chattam

I vividly remember the exact moment I realized that acting was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life… Mind you, I was 33 years old at the time living in Nashville, Tennessee, and deeply involved in a totally different career. Read more>>

Veronica Eileen

Since a young age really, I have always found a deep passion for creativity. The desire to build and innovate has forever been aspect of my identity, guiding me through the various challenges and opportunities in my journey! No matter the media, I always wanna keep improving. Read more>>

Devin Jacobs

When I was a kid I fell in love with drawing and later in life every kind of artform I could get my hands on. That love followed me into High School where I took every art class I could and fully focused most of my efforts on getting better. Read more>>

LaDarrel Johnson

Way back in 1992, I knew that I wanted to be a professional saxophonist, after watching an episode of The Simpsons, when Lisa was learning how to play the blues from Bleeding Gums Murphy. Read more>>

Lola Okunola

The moment I felt a profound connection to my creations and witnessed the emotions they stirred in others, I knew with certainty: I was destined to be an artist. Read more>>

Liana Destin

I have always been artistic and creative. It’s in my family on both sides so it was always within me before I could even put a name to it. I knew for sure that I had talent in highschool but I didn’t actually realize that pursuing it as a career was an option until 2014. Read more>>

Pauly-Young Dee

Entering the modeling world was something I never imagined for myself. While I admired the glamour of the runway scene, I lacked the confidence to believe it could be my path. Read more>>

Kaniya (Niya) Toney(Michelle)

Growing up, I always had a musical influence in my life between my grandfather and my mom I was anlways around music so I knew I wanted to do music at a young age already. Read more>>

Shani

I knew at a young age I wanted to make music not just a part of my life, but the very essence of it. As I continued to fall in love with the art of music, I started to find my truest self, my most authentic expression, and my deepest sense of purpose. Read more>>

Abigail H. Kim

Back when I had my kid, I was in a career limbo. I was growing apart from the field I studied in college – Biology. My desire and thirst for creating art started emerging. Read more>>

Lauren Tucker

I knew that homemaking was my calling, for 100% certain, as I was flying to Vancouver to meet my future Husband. A little background, I grew up in Ontario, Canada and figure skating was my primary pastime growing up. Read more>>

Chelsea Whitaker

I have been taking photos for pretty much my entire life. I received a pink Kodak point and shoot when I was 9 or 10, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I went to GVSU for Photography, and graduated in 2017. Read more>>

Muhan Yao

I first encountered motion design when I graduated from college. At that time, I had no knowledge of any software or drawing skills, but I stumbled upon the amazing works of many studios and became deeply fascinated. Read more>>

Luca Canale Brucculeri

As far as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to create worlds. When I was a child, at a young age, whether playing in the afternoons on my bike or simply in the backyard, I loved creating stories with few objects and a lot of imagination. Read more>>

Faroh

I think I always knew deep down. Growing up, I used to watch my mother paint in her free time, and I remember thinking how beautiful it was to see her create something so raw from scratch. Read more>>

Shalev Grados

My journey into the realm of creativity and artistry traces back to my earliest memories. From childhood, I found myself drawn to musical instruments like a magnet. Read more>>

Gracey Byerlein

After going through one of the darkest times of my life I knew something had to change. 12 or 13 year old me wouldn’t have guessed once where we’re at right in life right now. Read more>>

Punali Kumanan

I have known people to either be drawn towards art by birth or develop a taste in it as they evolve. Well, I think mine was a combination of both. I grew up around my mother’s oil paintings and picked up everything crafty during summers with a little knowledge as to where it would lead me to. Read more>>

Giganta Smalls

I have always shined brightest in front of an audience. I had taken acting classes throughout and middle and high school, and I always wanted to play female characters Read more>>

SacSix

As a child, I used to always day dream. I had a vivid imagination and was always thinking of inventions, cartoons and often ideas for TV commercials. Four years after graduating college, with a Bachelor Arts in business, I found myself selling door and window hardware. Read more>>

Ashton Nyte

When I was five years old, I saw a rerun of Elvis Presley’s 68 Comeback Special on TV. From the moment I heard that angelic voice, framed in all his black leather-clad glory, I knew I had to be a performer. Read more>>

Yanna I’Vonne

I just knew that I always wanted to be a creator of some sort. The gift of song was given to me and the love for music just fell into place along side it. Music has always been my comfort zone. Read more>>