On the topic of art critiques...

Personal exerpt with some modification for context:

"A personal pet peeve of mine: People who don't read the captions with my work.

That's like if I got up in a room and started talking, said my bit, then sat down and then that person starts asking the same questions I just finished answering. I just end up ignoring that person's comment. I mean why did I even bother standing up? I'm not available for Q & A at your leisure. Socialize with somebody else. */rant*

That aside, I understand that's the real world. That's what an every man will do. Some people are assholes about it, but you know, they take the call of duty way too seriously. Knowing this is human nature though, as an artist, it is in your power to control what messages you send to the viewer. Make it obvious and doubtless. Which BTW, does require you use the fundamentals, take considerable care for your quality, choose a strong composition, etc. If your message is there strong and you're offering something, then who cares what people say. Your intended audience will get it. It takes a long time to improve, but I think people miss that for the trees. Even if your craftsmanship is questionable, your message/your composition/your goal for the piece is really what makes a different. Yeah, maybe you made a few errors here and there, but they go further the background when you accomplished your ultimate goal to convey that feeling/emotion/thought process/story, etc.