OK, here's my take on this topic. You are an artist, because the story you're telling with your image is strictly your own. You might not have created the objects or the textures, but the story you're telling with your image is yours. Only you can put in the emotion and the spirit of the image. The objects don't do that, they just add the environment to aid the feeling that you're putting into the image. Art is more than just the picture, it's the feeling and the meaning that you're put into it. That's where the art is. In the composition, not the elements that were used in it. There are some people who can't compose to save their lives. I know people who couldn't arrange an image no matter what they did, yet there are folks here in the forums who create images that are just astounding. That's where the art is, not in the objects, but in the image itself and the passion that inspired the image. So, yes, Lucy, count youself an artist. Melanie