The dictionary definition of hobby is: "A pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation." (Merriam-Webster)

The word hobby evokes an image of something you love to do, something you ache for when you're sitting as your desk looking out at the window at a sunny day, something you never seem to have quite enough time for.

So why is it that some people call art a hobby, and some people don't?

And do the ones who are doing art as a hobby have more freedom, relaxation and fun? While the rest of us "serious artists" only run into creative roadblocks once we step off the hobby train and put on the "artist" hat?

I began thinking about art as a hobby when I heard about Downtown Jam, a Toronto club made up of three studio rooms where amateur musicians can sign-up for a night of jamming.

No audience, no performance, simply playing for fun.

I asked Andrew Hall, the owner of Downtown Jam, the differences he sees between a "jammer" and a professional musician. He says a "jammer" doesn't make his or her living from their music. They have another job, and come to Downtown Jam as a way to unwind and de-stress at the end of their workday.

So I started thinking some more about the difference between being an artist and having art as a hobby. First I wondered why someone would want to have art as a hobby, and I came up with three main reasons.

1. Freedom.
2. Relaxation.
3. Fun.

As I looked closer at each of these reasons, I found that each of them are the tip of a very big iceberg of emotional, mental and creative considerations in what was turning out to be a very complex topic!!

Freedom

Art as a hobby means freedom from the creative constraints that might be involved once you claim it as a business, way of life or part of your identity.

Additionally, a hobby involves more personal choice and expression of the artist's personal creative preferences.

This is as opposed to using creativity in a more commercial setting, to fulfill a commission as part of a job or in a therapeutic setting where clinical considerations come before personal creative fulfillment.

Darlene, a full-time artist, wrote in an email, "I now work in a full time job doing art, though it is not my style or passion, I still do enjoy it