We asked some insanely talented artists, creatives and makers to tell us about when they know they were going to pursue a creative career.
Shareon (Bhare) Blenman
I had an inkling of a thought about it during my years in high school (2012-2016) as I’ve always gravitated towards creative endeavors growing up. Decorating my science fair board to stand out in the crowd, putting together cool outfits from thrifted clothing, etc. Creativity has always been at the forefront of my personality, which made it easy to lean into Culinary Arts and stay within that field for close to a decade. Fast forward to 2020, peak COVID, and I’ve just completed my college degree in Hospitality. Given the state of the world, my degree and initial path were completely thrown off loop but also provided opportunities where I least expected them. Since 2016, I was slowly falling deeper into personal painting, sketching, and drawing. With nowhere else to go, I sought a community online to share my works. That led to making friends, which further led to selling my work online the following year for the highest amount I’ve ever had at one time. Having a collector place an offer of 5K USD really affirmed to me that slowly this practice can become a full-fledged profession. Read more>>
Krystal Frenchwood
When I was 6 or 7 years old, I loved drawing! It was when I went to middle school that I was 11 years old and decided that I wanted to combine my art with my poetry! I would write it down in my Bratz journal and dream what it was like to be an author/illustrator! In 2020, when I was 25 years old, my finance’s friend had just published her book. I was like, “I’ve always wanted to publish an illustration poetry book.” He responded back, saying, “Why not?” When he said that, those words hit me so deeply and it truly sparked something. That’s when I made the decision that it was time to finally step out of my comfort zone while walking into the reality I wanted , so I took a risk, and decided to become all that I aspired to be. Read more>>
Heidi Curley
I was a labor and delivery nurse for 20 years. In 2010 my life changed forever with the sudden tragic loss of my husband. I retired from nursing and wondered what I would do next as I continued to raise our three young daughters I picked up a canvas one day, and squeezed some paint from a tube and began to move the paint across the surface. It was in that moment that I started to heal. I continued to paint every day and began to notice light coming back through the darkness.. For me, it wasn’t about selling my artwork, which I did begin doing, it was more about the healing process as I created. I began selling my art at local art festivals and started teaching classes and workshops with mixed media and collage work. My art was showcased at a few local galleries along the way. In May of this year, along with two partners, I opened RedDoor Gallery in Camas Washington. It is a welcoming art hub, not only to show art from other local artist, but a space for teaching classes and we have working studio space as well Read more>>
Jda Jefferson
I can remember the day as if it just happened yesterday. It was Summer 2023, around July and I was working at a restaurant by the name of Shoney’s in my hometown of Orangeburg, Sc. This particular day it had not been a bad day at work, but I simply wasn’t amused with it. The money I made this day or the people I encountered just couldn’t shake a feeling that I believe always lied dormant within me, but wanted to be more apparent in the moment. Unfortunately for me, others could sense that as well, simply because on any other day I’m this burst of life that keeps the train running at the job. A co worker of mine that we all called Belle just would not let me be great this day (which I’m grateful she didn’t). She insisted that she knew something was off about me this particular day, which she was correct . Despite my efforts of trying to play it off as if I was ok Belle sat in front of me until she could figure out the reasoning. As if a lightbulb formed above her head she spoke the words, “ You’re not happy here.” At that moment, it’s as if she read my mind and said words I just never allowed myself to say. I started working very early on in life , so I grew very comfortable in settling. Despite it being what I had to do, it was never what I wanted to do. Being only 21 years old at the time, her words had finally make me face the music. So after a few more words of encouragement she ended it with “J’da take that leap and don’t let this small town consume you.” I don’t take any conversation that is brought to me lightly, so know I did just that especially since Belle is also an older woman. After the conversation, I perked up a bit and carried on with the rest of my shift. The last 15 minutes I took the time out to write my farewell letter to the job, made a little phone call to make arrangements and a week later I was on a greyhound bus to Charlotte to pursue my art career. One of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made in my life so far and it’s all thanks to Ms. Belle. Read more>>
Belinda Hamilton
I am admittedly, a “Jack of All Trades”. I went from being an HPD officer, to an Artist, to an Author/Illustrator. I love painting slice-of-life paintings and have always looked for ways to add people with interesting stories into my work. Having served as a patrol officer on the streets of the Galleria area of Houston, Tx expediently broadened the scope from that of my humble beginnings of growing up in the quaint and sleepy town of Dumas, Tx. Read more>>
Jennifer Crystal
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. In third grade, I squirreled away in my room writing stories about a little girl in “olden times.” I penned a poem about the moon, which I described as a “silver apparition in a freshly pressed gown.” When my grandfather read that description, he asked if it was something I’d heard or read somewhere. “No,” I told him. “I made it up.” He looked at me as if to say, “You’re on to something.” As if to say, “You’re really a writer.” That was probably the first time I saw the power of writing to move someone and to connect people, and I’d like to think the seeds of wanting to connect through story were sown then, if only subconsciously. Read more>>
Alexander Laurence
Fairly early on. I felt like there were a lot of yuppies and business majors around me back in the 1980s. I felt like making money as a goal wasn’t something that I was going to do. I just felt like I need to read a lot of books, and travel around the world, and learn as much as possible from people and the places I went to. Later in my twenties, I decided that I needed to reconcile my artistic vision with some sort of realistic financial situation. This led to me to keep a day job in fields like art galleries and magazines. As my own creative writing developed, I kept afloat by being a journalist, and keeping an open mind to any sort of job. I had a lot of support from family and friends in those days. Read more>>
Mary Kathryn Medlock
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of growing up to be an artist. I’m from small town in Arkansas, and my public elementary school didn’t offer art classes, so my parents enrolled me in an after -school program. I excelled in creative expression as a young student and enjoyed abstract painting, weaving on a loom, and even throwing clay on a wheel, our little after school art classes gave us so many opportunities to learn! It was clear to me that I was flourishing in my artistic passions, and I kept my dream close to my heart. Read more>>
Sharaina Turnage
I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artstic path professionally because other people saw it in me. I’ve always been a performer but didn’t know exactly what I was doing. I was never afraid to get in front of people and act on an impulse. I can link this back to my seventh grade English class. We had an assignment to write and read a Halloween short story in front of the class. Of course no one wanted to volunteer because pre-teens. I however proceeded to pull a chair to the front of the class, stand on top of it and gave everything I had. I let out an audible scream that had security running to our classroom and my teacher shooing them away to allow me to finish my story. She immediately told my mother that year I should be in some kind of drama program. Read more>>
Kelly Meholic
Growing up, I was always passionate about art. My elementary school art teacher, Mrs. D’Amelio, was fabulous and played a significant role in nurturing my love for the arts. Alongside her, my mother, a talented self-taught artist and pianist, has also inspired and continues to inspire me deeply with her passion and creativity. Read more>>
Veronica Bianqui
My passion for music probably started when I was 6 years old. My best friend Amanda and I stumbled upon TLC’s “Waterfalls” playing on MTV, and I was instantly mesmerized. That moment sparked an obsession. The first album I owned was CrazySexyCool, which my mom bought me on cassette from the Wherehouse (RIP) in the San Fernando Valley. Soon after, I began recording myself on Fisher-Price tape recorders and boomboxes, even using headphones as a makeshift microphone. I knew this is what I wanted to do. Read more>>
Brandon Waller
The first time I knew I wanted to actually pursue being a singer was at the age of 9. I was living in Philly at the time and was at the mall with my mom, little, brother, grandma, and Aunt. We were walking through Franklin Mills Mall and “Genie in a Bottle” by Christina Aguilera came on over the mall speakers. Her voice and the melody instantly captivated my attention. I had been singing since I was a small toddler, but it was at this moment I knew that I really wanted to sing. I had also discovered that I was mostly drawn to pop music at the time. My mom ended up buying the Christina’s cd for me and I played day and night, all the time on the way to catholic school in the mornings and afterwards as well. It wasn’t until my cousin accidentally jumped on my cd and broke it that I gave it a rest. Read more>>
Jay Smith
I first realized I wanted to pursue a path in the arts when I was around 6 to 8 years old. However, I didn’t know which realm of art I wanted to focus on. I always enjoyed the visual art and music in comics, movies, and video games; they stood out to me as something unique compared to what you’d typically see on TV or hear on the radio. As a kid, I aspired to draw comics and create video games, but these weren’t areas where I excelled. Read more>>
Kattatonia
I have always craved a community where I felt like I belonged. I’ve always had the desire to create. I write, paint, dabble in photography, make chainmaille jewelry, and do so many other “arsty” things. I also love video games – I was able to meet a lot of people online (genuine friends – I even met my partner of 10 years in The Elder Scrolls Online) when I started playing MMO’s. In one of those MMO’s, I had a group of friends who were not understanding the mechanics of a particular boss fight. Instead of verbally explaining it, I fired up my Twitch and streamed it so they could actually see and understand how to do it. That’s all it took, and I was in love with content creation! I realized it was an excellent opportunity for me to be able to teach and help others while also fostering a community of like-minded people. At the time (this was back in 2015), I was working an office job in the medical field, so I streamed on twitch here and there, but not consistently. I was far too tired to stream on a regular schedule! In 2020 (after 17 years of working for that company), I was laid off. This happened 3 months after my father died of cancer, and 5 months prior to that, my dog had died, so it was a sequence of very hard blows. I shelled up, Emotionally, I wasn’t able to handle much of anything. I kept myself busy cleaning the apartment, making sure laundry was done, fixing things that were broken, and watching a lot of television shows. I had completely retreated from life and barely played any video games at all. After about a year of trying to find employment, I realized I had to do *something* to pay the bills because my severance pay had run dry so we were reliant on my husband’s income, alone, and the bills kept going up. I felt I had healed enough, emotionally, to get back on Twitch, and I made the leap into full-time content creation. I decided to go all in and give it everything I had. It was do or die. Slowly, my community grew and I had a very clear goal of growing, getting partnered, creating content on Youtube, and being able to make a living doing what I enjoy instead of working for someone else. The initial spark I felt back in 2015 the first time I streamed made me realize content creation was what I wanted to do, and having my back against the wall in 2020 is what made me get my head screwed on straight and put my all into it! Over the last 2.5 years, my passion for content creation and the communities around content creation have only strengthened! Read more>>
Ariella Forstein
I always knew I was here to sing, even before my brain was fully developed enough to understand I could choose that for a living. I just wanted to feel, connect with others, and sing. Sure, other things intrigued me. As a child, I considered becoming a therapist, or a veterinarian. You know, in the earthly realm of jobs, those professions provide a reasonable enough living and I’d enjoy aspects of them, but singing was always the deeper form of expression of who I knew I was. It honored something intangible within me, my desire, and my purpose. Read more>>
Lisa Grizaniuk
I was artistic and creative at quite a young age, I was drawn to painting quite early as well. I spent time watching painters paint master copies in the Louvre and was enthralled to the point I would do a crayon and paper version. My grandma would buy them God bless her. My parents continued to foster that interest and were very supportive. They still are. Read more>>
Christina Allen
When I was a pre-teen, my mother and I visited an artist’s house. I have no recollection of who this woman was. But I looked at her art and her lifestyle, and I knew then that that was how I imagined I wanted to be when I grew up. This woman had no idea she changed my life completely with that brief encounter. When I interact with people today I often think of how we can influence people in ways we may never know. Read more>>
Charles Clary
I knew from a very early age that I wanted to pursue a creative path. My mother was an artist and teacher and I was always fascinated with making. I remember being in 5th grade and working on art projects and mine always took a fantastical turn breaking the boundaries of the assigned project. I cant thank my teachers enough for encouraging these exploits and pushing me to explore my creativity. When I got to college I started out as a graphic design major and quickly realized I missed the tactility of physical media. I switched to a studio major with an emphasis in painting and a minor in illustration, I thrived in this new environment. I soaked everything up like a sponge and began to push the boundaries of the mediums. Early on I became fascinated with collage and how cut paper could be used within my paintings. After graduating with my BFA in painting I took two years off honing my craft and then applied to grad school and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). There I continued my exploration of painting but soon realized it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do. At that time I was awarded a residency in NYC. While there I had a break through after happening upon a paper store. I bought as much of the medium as I could afford and went back to the studio with a fervor. That was in 2007 and I never looked back. Read more>>
Kevin Castillo
My journey began when I was six years old, I always loved to draw and paint. As I grew older and technology started to become a staple in my educational journey I transitioned to digital drawing. As I kept continuing my artistic journey I started to expand to other forms of art such as videos, photography, fashion and music. Photography was the one that stood out to me the most, I would dedicate the majority of my high school years mainly focusing on photography leaving drawing and the rest behind. My path didn’t start right then and there, I would take pictures of views and the few concerts I went to but always kept them to myself until I went college. I took a black and white film class during my third year and I mentioned to my professor that I took photos but mainly for myself and he asked to see them, he enjoyed seeing them and said to me that I had an eye for taking photos as well as saying that I should share them on my social media. Because of my professor he gave me the confidence to share my photos and also to pursue photography. As years passed I started to take photography serious but I still needed some help, I would take a course in college called capstone I and II where I would showcase my artwork in a shared gallery with other students. The idea was there but I still needed work until my professors who both taught the course in separate units guided me to make a website or name for these photos other than just myself, to make sort of this “alter ego” where I can pose these photos not just as in a personal setting but in a professional setting to showcase viewers my work. I already had a name in mind called GROMCE, GROMCE spelled in all caps is a streetwear brand I made during the end of my senior year in high school, I did design and sell some tees however it started to become time consuming especially once I got into college, my homework would get in my way in making more tees so I decided to pause it until I finished college. Once I shared this name to my professors they both insisted that I should use it for my photos and from there I would rework my logo design, website, and other minor things to use my brand name that I had originally used for my streetwear brand for my photos, I even made an Instagram also invested in cameras and equipment to help elevate my photos. Ever since then, photography has been my passion. Read more>>
Bonnie Levinson
In the 12th grade, I was given an assignment to interview the person I admired most in the Arts. At that time I was an aspiring musical theater actress and thought I would interview Hal Prince, but a visit to MOMA changed all that. Read more>>
Adam Wurtzel
Before I could talk, I became infatuated with game shows. The lights, the sound effects, the buzzers. I didn’t understand how to play, but something about seeing those shows, and then hosts made me mesmerized. As I got a little older, while other kids were impersonating their favorite athletes, I was running around my house pretending to be Dick Clark and Bob Eubanks (both of which I ended up working with professionally).
Philip Cox
I’d always wanted to write a book. I had several attempts over the years, but never got past the first chapter as the day job (banking and insurance) got in the way.
Then, after our eldest daughter was born, I took a career break to be the main carer. When my wife went on maternity leave for our second child, I had some time on my hands, and so decided to try writing a book again. Read more>>
Bobby Bancalari
When I was around 11 years old, I took flute lessons at my elementary school. At first it was a struggle, and I stumbled through the lessons until one summer day, the music notes in the books made sense and in the span of an afternoon, I could read music. That was a game-changer. Once I understood music notation, I dove into learning other instruments, starting with most wind instruments. By the time I was 14 years old, I started taking violin and viola lessons and ended up performing with the Burbank Philharmonic. It was around this time I knew I would become a professional musician. Read more>>
Silvana Johnson
The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was back in Argentina. As a child I started designing my own cloth, I remember my first dress was a pink satin princess dress for a costume party. Read more>>
Joe Rabcow
The first time I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was a moment of pure revelation that hit me during an ordinary day at my mechanic shop. While I enjoyed working on cars and the satisfaction that came with it, I often found myself daydreaming about something else—something more fulfilling. Read more>>
Mary Lynch
I’ve been artistic since childhood, but abandoned this during later years. My focus became the same as almost everyone I know..find a great job, get married, etc.
I did occasionally draw, but only began painting around nine years ago. Read more>>
Soyeene Lynch
When I think back to the first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally, my artistic journey began in my childhood which immediately comes to mind. I was a young girl with a vivid imagination and a love for expressing herself through art. I would spend hours drawing, painting, and creating beautiful things with my hands. Growing up, I was always drawn to colors, shapes, and textures. I remember discovering my artistic abilities at a very young age when I found myself constantly doodling and sketching in my notebooks. I would lose track of time when I was engrossed in creating something new and beautiful. As I reflect on those early years, I remember the circumstances that surrounded my artistic awakening. My family always encouraged my creativity, providing me with art supplies and enrolling me in art classes. I was also fortunate to have teachers who saw my potential and nurtured my talent. One vivid memory that stands out is the first time I participated in an art exhibition and created my own business “BYOB” at my school. Seeing the reactions of people as they viewed my artwork and my storefront, filled me with a sense of joy and fulfillment that I had never experienced before. It was then that I realized the power of art to evoke emotions and connect with others on a deep level. Re-experiencing that moment with the viewers, I would convey the emotions of excitement and wonder that I felt as a young artist. I want the viewers to understand the joy and fulfillment that comes with expressing oneself through art, and storytelling and to be inspired to pursue their creative passions. My journey to discovering my artistic path was filled with moments of self-discovery and encouragement, and it ultimately laid the foundation for my decision to pursue a career in the arts. Read more>>
Salice Like Alice
After 2020, there was a point where I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. I was doing various of things at once: owned a lipgloss business called Esi Beauty. I also worked as a hostess in several restaurants, and became a bartender. And while I was in undergrad a few years back, I studied political science and anthropology. I love learning about different cultures, and the historical-political backgrounds behind it. However, looking for a career with that knowledge and figuring out if it was for me overall was a hardship. I felt like I was in a void. My parents would constantly ask me what are my plans? What is next? What do I want to do in life? For sometime I wasn’t sure and I’d often try to avoid that conversation with my parents. Not until I realized a commonality about myself. I’m very good at social media. I’ve been marketing successful events back to back. I’ve constantly met celebrities through social media or on an average day at work. Some of my music artist friends would ask of my opinion on certain songs they’ve made. That’s when I eventually realized, why don’t I make a living with what’s already happening in my life? Why don’t I make a living for something I am truly passionate for? Media. Read more>>
Dakhari Francis
2019 was the time period I expanded myself pass just being an artist. It was the beginning of me gaining recognition as an all around musician. My performances were cultivating lots of different people. From then on I knew I could make it something bigger Read more>>
DJ Turn Up
I didn’t know I wanted to be in this field until I was 18. Before then I wanted to be in video games (like video game designing), but it’s when I went to South Carolina State University in 2011-2012 on a band scholarship, is when I discovered that field is VERY COMPLICATED & this art of DJing fell in my lap thanks to my crab brother (A person who joined the Marching Band in the same year as you did) DJ Donosouf. I was able to bring that skill back home & it took a second to take off but when it did, IT DID. Read more>>