When can you call yourself an artist?

I love to draw and always have. Art was always my best and most favorite subject in school. After high school though, I gave up on it for a while until one evening my husband and I had a fight. I was trying to give him the silent treatment and found the silence to be a little to awkward. So as a diversion I got out my drawing pad to finish a drawing I had started 6 years prior. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed to draw and started drawing quite a bit after that. After a few blue ribbons at the county fair (not an artist make I know) I felt that maybe I would try to take my drawings to the next level. There were so many questions though, even things as simple as what is the best paper to use. At one of the local horse events I saw some incredible artwork featured by a woman named Kelli Swan. Her artwork is amazing and inspiring to say the least. I would encourage anyone who loves graphite art (especially equine art) to check out her work. I decided to contact her and another female artist that I respected and see if they could offer my any tips with my art. Well, the one woman I never heard back from but Kelli Swan did email me back. I was so thrilled that she was so generous to offer some of her expertise to me and the tips she gave me really helped.

In the coming months I will be posting more about my artwork, including some of my work. And hopefully be documenting my journey to becoming and artist. Which brings me to my question: when can you call yourself an artist? What entitles someone to this label, creating art, selling it, winning an award, art shows? This is something that I’ve always wondered. If anyone has an opinion on this I’d love to here it.