clavus

One of my kid's preschool teachers commented on my son's shirt. She liked the design on it, and asked if I had painted it. I had, indeed, painted the Iron Giant on the shirt with an airbrush.

"ooo!" she cooed, "Are you an artist?"

I smiled and said, "no"

She gave me the wierdest look afterwards.

So I got to thinking. What does it mean to say one is an artist? Since I've had no training in art, and I don't make my living creating art, I don't think I'm an artist. I can not draw or paint things that look "real."

My wife, on the other hand, thinks I'm an artist. She points out that I draw almost every day; I make a regular (though very small) income from my cartoons, we have paintings hanging in our house that I painted, and most of our family and friends have cups or vases that I threw on a potter's wheel.

What is your definition of an artist? What seperates an artist from a person who just likes to paint?

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