[Michael Fournier]

I guess it is all related to the fact that most people in this monetary based world we live in associate having a JOB as having a purpose. And many Try and define who you are by your means of supporting yourself.

We live in a society that has conditioned most to be wage slaves working their lives away making others rich. (financially that is) They then start to need money not just for food and shelter anymore but to buy things to fill their other wise empty lives because they gave up their love in life to do what ever they do each day to survive.

Now I do not want to offend the women artist . Fist off I have respect for talent no matter who it is man or women.
But I must say this sublet has a different repercussions depending if you are a Man or a Woman.
If a man is a successful artist and has no other job except his art and he is married he is not thought of as a stay at home house husband with a hobby.
At the same time though if a Male artist is not financially successful enough to support his family as well as himself society puts pressure on him to "Get a Real Job" and forget this hobby. Even if his wife makes plenty of money to support them both. So for Men it is a hobby unless you are financially successful at it.

Now for women it is different even a very successful women artist who has a financially successful husband can still run into people that consider her art as a hobby.
Of course the women will not be pressured to forget her art in favor of a more traditional source of income if they have a financially successful husband. Or even if her husband is not that financially successful many will still not blame their financially short comings on her art but on her husbands inability to earn enough to support them.
It is all based on out dated sexual roles that even today are still considered the norm.

So unfortunately women will always face some (even if they are idiots) that will consider their art a hobby and for men you will never be considered a Artist and not a hobby painter until you earn your living exclusively from your Art. (and good income at it)

It really is not exclusive to artist but anyone who chooses to do what they love first no matter how much money they can make at it and define their lives by their love not their monetary needs.
Often if they can stick to it they do make money but they will have to fight off all those who will try to steer them down the path more taken to just get a "real Job"

In the words of Jackson Browne.
"Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive
Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive"

So just do what you Love and forget what others think in the end your life will not be measured buy how much money you made at it. After all Vincent Van Gogh did not sell any paintings and he is more commonly known today then most of the finically successful artist of his time.