I am self taught full time artist. It started with reading Walter Farley's Black Stallion series and it progressed with my teaching myself how to draw horses. I did take an art class in high school and this class showed how shading added depth to my work and made look more polished.
Then I progressed from sketching horses to using pastels to add color and started using wild life and people for inspiration as well. And soon after getting used to pastels I started using paints and canvas.
Now I started using cradle boards as well because I believe you should not limit yourself to just one medium or one subject matter. And I always paint what I am passionate about.