"Real" Artists.

The dictionary definition of an artist is "A person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria." Aesthetics is the study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty. However, can anyone be an artist? If you have talent and a desire to create your own unique pieces of work, does that make you an artist? What is the line between an art and a craft? As you can see, I have many questions about what makes an artist just that. I have some friends that can draw or take pictures but not all of them call themselves artists so may if you believe you are an artist then you are. Maybe you label yourself as such.

Art is about freedom and creative expression. Being an artist is first and foremost about feeling free to create. It is about expressing what is inside you, expressing something that potentially others have not expressed before or have expressed in a different way. It is about expressing what you want and maybe even need to express. It has nothing to do with schooling or if you create professionally or as a hobby, in my opinion. After searching the internet for people's ideas of a "true" artist, one person said "to define an artist, one must first define art."

My question to you is: What characteristics do most or all artists have in common that makes them "real" artists? What is a "real" artist, anyways?