We asked some insanely talented artists, creatives and makers to tell us about when they know they were going to pursue a creative career.

Jeff Deglow

Great question! Thanks for asking this. Read more>>

April Stokes

My desire to be a professional artist was born in my Senior year of high school. I discovered my love for painting and how I was able to express myself and lose myself in the process of creating visual art. I went on an art careers trip with my art class to Vancouver, BC. Read more>>

Pamela Karpelenia

From a very young age I’ve always enjoyed the Performing Arts. I’ve been acting on stage since I was 5 and I competed through high school and college and acting, speaking, debate and Improv. By the time I got through high school before I graduated, I knew I wanted to do theater in some way. Read more>>

Timothy Reynolds Jr

My whole life from what I can remember. In 6th grade I had to create a comic book for my younger sister as a class project and in my bio I stated I wanted to be a graphic designer. It was always something I wanted to do. Plus, growing up around artists was mad motivating. Read more>>

McLean Fahnestock

My parents encouraged me to pursue art when I was young. I am lucky to have had their support in making that decision. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t try other paths. I worked in retail sales for a while and took my time finishing my bachelor’s degree. Read more>>

Taryn Vaughn

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally right before I graduated high school. Read more>>

Angelica Clemmer

I’ve always wanted to pursue an artistic path since I was a little kid around 9 or 10 years old, I’ve always painted and I’ve always played a musical instrument Read more>>

Mike Brennan

I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember. My childhood was filled with cartoons, and comics, and learning to draw my favorite characters. Some of my first and favorite creative memories were of me drawing and making my own greeting cards for family members. Read more>>

Linnea Stevens

Some of my earliest memories involve my mom reading bedtime stories to me and my siblings. Even before I could read, I would just stare at the pictures. Most of my childhood drawings are contained to the bottom half of the paper, because I was planning to add text later (though often didn’t.) I was always fascinated with the word “illustrator,” and knew that I wanted to create art that tells stories. Read more>>

Justin Kueber

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I was a kid making movies with my home video camera. I always loved watching movies and I was curious how they got made. So making my own was my first step into that world. Read more>>

Elysia King

I’ve been painting, drawing, and designing my entire life. Most of my creations were gifts, and it never occurred to me that people would want to pay money for my work. Fast forward to the past decade: I graduated college with a nursing degree , and kept taking on any art opportunity that came my way all while working full time in the medical field. Read more>>

Donovan Carter

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path during high school. I’ll never forget, it was November 2016. One amazing night, I got the opportunity to go see my favorite artists, Travis Scott on the Rodeo tour with special guests Bryson Tiller and Skepta. Read more>>

Chloe Hamilton

I’ve been pursuing art since a very young age (thank you, Mom and Dad). I grew up dancing and performing, from being in a studio learning my foundations in dance to performing on stage in shows and musicals. Read more>>

Leslie Neumann

There’s a difference between loving to make art – even as a little kid – and then making a commitment as an adult to becoming a professional artist. I was fortunate in that my family was always creative and always supportive. But it was a personal tragedy that propelled me to a lifetime of fine art. Read more>>

Carole Morrison

I’ve always loved art, making, creating.. but with life somethings get put on the back burner. I have 2 wonderful sons, and when they were in elementary school I was blessed enough to help out in the art room. Helping with scenery for plays, art shows and just an extra set of hands. Read more>>

Monica Echeverri

Art is something I’ve loved and practiced since I was a child, but becoming an artist was never a plan for my future. There was always an underlying doubt about turning art into a career so I made sure to always keep it as a hobby. I decided to pursue a degree in nutrition, but even then I was always finding ways to stay creative in my field. Read more>>

Roxana Becerril

In my senior year of high school, my AP English class was tasked with a final project: writing a reported feature on any topic related to the local community. We were reading Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and other writers of the new journalism era at the time. Read more>>

Shahaadah Morell

During my last years of high school I was deeply contemplating on what was my next steps in life , What more did I want to learn ? My art teacher was encouraging my creative skills ; she advised I go to college and major in Fine Arts. Read more>>

URBAN ROYALTY

I fell in love with art at a young age. Started acting young so something about those bright lights and feeling like your free underneath, just felt amazing to me. Then when I started creating music for myself and seeing the reactions from that. Priceless. Read more>>

Erin Yoo

I first knew I wanted to pursue acing professionally when I watched the musical ‘Mamma Mia’ in broadway with my mom. ‘Mamma Mia’ has always been our favorite movie when I was growing up. My mom would play the songs from the movie almost every morning before I went to school. Read more>>

Joyce Rooks

I knew from a young age that I wanted to pursue a creative life but the reality of being able to do so professionally came much later. I was exposed to a lot of music growing up and my mom made sure that Read more>>

Grant Brett

I remember being about 7 years old and watching the first season of American Idol and knowing that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Rayvion Bolden

First and foremost, special thanks to CanvasRebel for the opportunity to share my story within their platform! As far as my creative pursuit to attack becoming an artist on a professional level, that started back in July of 2022. I’ve always been musically inclined since I can remember. Read more>>

Leo Mane

I knew from a very young age, about 7 years old, when I discovered I could sing. Even my estranged mother once said to me, I was going to be the CEO of something one day. I told myself when I grew up, I was going to be a famous R&B singer. Read more>>

Shawn Swartwood

I’ve been retired for several years. Medically.. I can’t get around as much as I used to and I hate just sitting around doing nothing. So, what can I do? I’m limited physically do to a bad back. So I had to find something that I could work on and leave when I couldn’t do any more. Read more>>

Walter Martin

I probably knew I wanted to pursue a professional career as an artist since I was in elementary school. Of course, there were many career paths I had in mind back then as a child such as an astronaut or a pilot, but the main flow of my creativity has always been present. Read more>>

Joyce Wong

I was a high school English teacher and I was completely burnt out. I was unhappy, stressed, and under appreciated and I knew I needed a lifestyle change. So I took a gamble on myself. Read more>>

Georgio Sabino III

I remember when I was in 7th grade art class, I painted a M.C. Esther dragon. That moment was a turning point in my life as I decided on my life goal. I took on the responsibility and pursued my dream. Over the years, I have taken many classes in high school, undergraduate and graduate levels to prove that I can make my dream a reality. Read more>>

Daniela Borgialli

I was 8 years old and I announced to my mother that I wanted to be a choreographer. Although the path wasn’t linear by any means, and definitely not encouraged, I have managed to be a teacher, dancer, choreographer, performer for the bulk of my career. Read more>>

Lucy Finch

When we are young our parents want the best for us and often encourage us to make safe, risk/free choices. I listened to my parents’ advice and tried my best to stay on the straight and narrow path: get a college degree, get a good job, and get married to a good man. Read more>>