Artists and creatives face innumerable challenges given that their career path often doesn’t come with a playbook, a steady paycheck or any form of safety net. It’s definitely not easy and so we asked a few of the artists and creatives we admire to talk to us about why they chose to pursue an artistic or creative career.

Cristhian Saravia | Artist Golden305

For me it was easy to make the decision to have a creative career, I began to draw and create art from a very young age, I started with graffiti, then tattoos, then I studied Fine art, Caricature design, Graphic design, and finally Interactive media design. Throughout my life I have always been an artistic and creative, for me it is a blessing to be able to make my living making art everyday. Read more>>

Kenny Walker | Lead Singer and Bass Player

Since I was young, I’ve always been in love with the way that the medium of music affected me. Every time I hear a song for the first time from an artist that I end up loving, there is always a feeling of wonder and intrigue in their sound that leads to me listening to that song hundreds of times. It’s been my dream to be able to do that through my own song writing and composing not only for myself but for anyone willing to listen. I feel that sentiment is mutually felt with every member of Yearlove. Read more>>

Marleana Wells | Entertainer & Medical Professional

I don’t believe I pursued an artistic creative career at all. I honestly have to say that they pursued me. I never planned to do any of the things I have done creatively. I can say the fact that I was always creatively eclectic all my life was probably the key connection. Opportunities presented themselves. I just never went looking for them they kinda found me. I searched for knowledge, not opportunities. The knowledge gave me the skills. I just kept growing and filling in the blanks because I was clear that it was meant for me to follow this path. Taking the steps necessary for me to get to my next level. Read more>>

Kirenia McClain | Certified Makeup Artist

I pursued an artistic career by being inspired each and everyday by my mother. The way she styled and enhanced her clients beauty was amazing to me. I knew that I wanted this as well. Read more>>

Jill Raymond | Creative, Actor, Writer, Educator and Entrepreneur

For me, this was not a choice. It was (and is) something so deeply ingrained in me that I cannot see my life any other way. For a while, in London, I was working in what I, at the time, considered to be a “real job” – company car, dress code, corporate ladder (or slippery pole) to climb… I thought I was finally doing it right. That at the grand age of my mid-twenties I was ready to cast asunder my childlike dreams of being an artist, or pursuing the arts as a career. But I was miserable. Money is seductive, and I am not immune to the allure of grandeur; but whilst I was making more money than I had been I felt more lost than ever. What was I really doing with my time? How was this nurturing my soul? Was this really how I was meant to spend my life? Once I decided that I had to find my own path, that it wasn’t my place to fit into those boxes already set out, the journey really began. Now not a young fresh-faced graduate, but as an adult with more of a sense of self and truth, actively and purposefully choosing the road less taken. Read more>>

Raul Sisniega | Visual Creator

I am absolutely sure that pleasure is what motivated me to do so. Pleasure is the word I could use to describe the feeling I get during my creative process. Read more>>

Marc Dennis | Artist

Being an artist chose me rather than my choosing it. As a kid and even in high school I never believed that being an artist was a “real” career. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do as a profession after high school or if college was even the right move. I had always drawn and painted since the age of five and it just took over and the creative forces guided me. And I’ve never looked back. Read more>>

Azeez Bakare | Architectural 3D Rendering Artist & Photographer

I actually grew up desiring to work a more mathematical and technical job. I never desired to be, or thought of myself as a creative…but rather considered a more STEM driven career path, like that of my father, grandfather, and brother — they all chose the path of Civil Engineering. Sure, creativity is involved there but I expected to live the “American Dream” throughout my life at a static desk job rather than the nomadic and artist career path I have now. I feel that my career path actually called me and found me. It was my junior year of high school, where I learned about the opportunity of having a creative career in the Visual Communication and Architecture industry. I began creating fliers for friends and organizations in my free time…and then people started paying me to do it for their businesses. From those experiences, I decided that I wanted to become a graphic designer, so I enrolled in the Visual Communication Design program at The Ohio State University. The next day I found out it was too conceptual for me so I changed my field of study to Architecture. Read more>>