artist

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
• noun A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill.
• noun One, such as an actor or singer, who works in the performing arts.
• noun One who is adept at an activity, especially one involving trickery or deceit.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A person of especial skill or ability in any field; one who is highly accomplished; especially, one versed in the liberal arts.
• noun One skilled in a trade; one who is master of a manual art; a good workman in any trade: as, a tonsorial artist.
• noun One who practises any one, or any branch, of the fine arts; specifically, a painter or a sculptor.
• noun A member of one of the histrionic professions, as an actor, a tenor, or a dancer.
• noun In universities, a student in the faculty of arts.
• noun One who practises artifice; a trickster.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun obsolete One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan.
• noun One who professes and practices an art in which science and taste preside over the manual execution.
• noun One who shows trained skill or rare taste in any manual art or occupation.
• noun obsolete An artful person; a schemer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A person who creates art.
• noun A person who creates art as an occupation.
• noun A person who is skilled at some activity.
• adjective archaic Artistic.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination