I started being a person in Richardson, Texas, when the calendars said "1979" on them. I feel like I probably started drawing in an effort to make everything that came to my head come into some kind of existence. I've always felt that technical skill is a skill, and you can be a genius and be good at it no matter what or you can put a lot of effort into it and get good at it. I think the idea of an artist being "gifted" isn't a gift of skill, but a gift of desire. WANTING to draw is the gift. Kids play with crayons and other art supplies and grow out of them for the lures of puberty and adulthood. Once a person learns the making of art won't necessarily make them rich or put them in a popular place with other people, they tend to abandon such making. Those blessed with the gift of wanting to make art no matter what, are the people who move on to be what other people consider to be an artist.