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.

Jessica Al-Khalifah | Adventure Elopement Photographer

For YEARS I worked as an architect for a custom home builder. While this allowed me to be somewhat creative with the homes I designed, something was missing for me. I wasn’t allowed to dress uniquely and express myself. I had to always cover my tattoos and dress professionally and while there’s nothing WRONG with that….it’s just not my style. I used to always see how far I could push my boss with the color of my hair lol. He said it had to be natural colors so I would come in with the boldest red I could manage. Hey it’s technically a natural color!! Read more>>

Danielle Mondragon | Artist

My whole life I’ve always had a passion for creating in some way or another, over time it’s developed into a love of The Fine Arts. After graduating college I began working for an architecture firm as a interior architect and designer. I helped design offices, retail stores, doctors offices, and other commercial spaces. I enjoyed the work a lot! It was less HGTV than it sounds. I worked in commercial architecture so it was a lot of technical drawings and making sure all drawings were to code. After my first daughter was born it changed me. Read more>>

Marquise Walker | Dog breeder

I grew up around dogs my uncle always had 2-3 dogs and I would always be over there helping him train/take care of his dogs which got me interested in learning more about the American bully breed/breeding Read more>>

Steve Miller | artist, author, software entrpreneur, treacher, fashion designer, magazine editor, surf and skate boards, bibliophile

Combining creative and career is the elixir and secret sauce. Implied in “creative” is freedom and “career” implies a prescribed path for survival. Whether conscious or not, it’s mandatory to combine both in some proportion to achieve a sustainable model for living. In fact, we live in such a complex world that creativity is needed in all aspects of life. Maybe, that’s the message for the viewer of art. Read more>>

Darrin Pryor | Freelance Photographer & Graphic Designer

I’ve always carried a camera around from middle school through college. In high school, I was introduced to the course: Desktop Publishing. In addition, I also liked working on computers at a very young age. Combining both interest of computers and desktop publishing, later created the foundation for graphic design and photography for me. Two of my high school teachers, A. Lane and A. Stokes, allowed me to be as creative as possible. I started to create brochures, business cards, flyers, festive powerpoint presentations, and other artistic material. Read more>>