Unfortunatly you'd have to employ somebody to look through the artists portfolio. For a small company with a small turnover of staff this could be a simple glance through by the lead artist, designer, producer or project manager.
For larger companies with a huge turnover of staff it just isn't possible / cost effective to have one recruitment process for programmers and another for artists.
All CVs usually go through the HR department and they will choose from these which portfolios get looked at.
It's not the best way and yes it's unfair and yes it does mean some of the best candidates work will end up in the bin but, unfortunatly this does happen.

There are ways of getting noticed though one of the guys I went to university was asked to email his CV so he sent an email with a weblink to a youtube video CV where he explained all about his skills etc complete with CGI effects that he had done himself. He got an email back the next day saying "When can you start and how much money do you want".

Quote: Original forged post by rex
I guess my question was a little vague. ...
With that said, "is it possible?" seems like too much of a catch all question.
... Has anyone heard of success from a situation akin to mine?

We already told you "anything is possible." Sure, we've all heard of exceptional cases of people who broke in without a degree. But how does that answer help you, in any way whatsoever?? If you just want reassurance that you're not hopeless, yeah fine, you're not hopeless - but wouldn't it be a better use of your time to be polishing your craft? If not answering questions that'll actually help you in your quest?