" ... but getting this sense across to non-practitioners is almost impossible."
And maybe besides the point. I'm sure there's an art to be a lawyer, for example, but I really don't think anyone wants to hear about "Justice artisans" or some such crap.
It is beside the point of what people are looking for when they ask someone, "What do you do?"
Also, FWIW, it conveys for me not passion, but self-infatuation.
Perhaps it's a matter of what to do when someone asks you a basic question. Simply tell them what you think they want to know, or tell them what you want them to hear.
And maybe besides the point. I'm sure there's an art to be a lawyer, for example, but I really don't think anyone wants to hear about "Justice artisans" or some such crap.
"Software artisan" just sounds inane.