To be a professional artist is to make profession of it.
It is a social and tax declared status, which does not have anything to see with a qualitative judgement: to practise its art with much assiduity and dexterity does not make a professional. To practise an artistic activity to give pleasure and cause the admiration of the others is not a trade.
There is not an” order of the artists” nor a compulsory diploma as for doctors, notaries, lawyers. To become a professional artist, you just have to declare your profits:
Its practice
A professional artist generally uses his workshop every day, and works all the day there. He draws mainly his incomes from his artistic activities. In complement he often gives courses or training courses.
Exposing and selling its work.
Selling for a professional artist is a vital need; because he must earn money to live, continue to achieve his trade and to pay his taxes.
Sharing his art with the public, having exhibitions belongs to his work that requires time, energy and always costs a little money even when the places of exhibitions are “free”.
Working while spending money instead of making some cannot be prolonged indefinitely. On the long run and without financial counterpart, the artist goes from the financial problems to survival, before being constrained to stop.