Who is an Artist? What does it mean? Does it mean anything at all anymore?

This post has been heavily edited from it's original. The first one was a bit cryptic, and when I re-read it,(a week later) I realized that it did not say what I was trying to say.

This post was started when I over heard someone explaining to another person that someone was not an artist because they have no "Art Background". That was the only reason given- no Art background.

That is exactly why I like to call myself a painter. The word artist is so over used that anyone can use it, and then again- no one can.

There are so many people with all the words on paper needed to call themselves "fine Arteest", thinking that the paper is the only thing that is required. They might even be done learning!

Then there are those who rely only on their personality and have never looked at a study of any kind. I think that personality has little, if anything, to do with the visual language of painting.

Painter suits me fine- it fits.