It is the job of the artist to communicate and each artist and buyer may not be using the same language. To most entrepreneurs, the bottom line is what makes the business viable. If the profit motive cannot be established, conventional wisdom would suggest the business should not be maintained. Artwork is a business. Artwork is offered for sale.
Some artists depend on sales to survive.
But if the artist sold nothing, he or she would continue to produce product. It is a matter of fulfilling, not the expectations of the buyer, but the inner need of the artist. I know that if I keep trying, I will find that satisfaction of creating what I feel in such a way that others can feel it as well. It is the fact that each piece is unique that takes it away from the strictly commercial and moves it into a place of its own. When you see a piece of art that works for you, it touches something deep inside that you were not able to create yourself.