How to learn to do photography as an art?

I'm 17, pretty much teaching myself. I have (half-mine, half-my dad's) a Nikon d3100 and a few different lenses. I want to get over just taking snapshots and get into the real art that is photography but I'm not sure what to do. Can any serious photographers give me some advice?

Try the website, Cambridgeincolor.
They have really good tutorials.

If you have a facebook or something and you aren't a creep I could walk you through some basic ***.

Learn photography technically so that you can create an idea in your mind with your camera. You can do this through reading, workshops or even online tutorials. When you are qualified, get work as an assistant to photographers that shoot what you like. Shoot lots of pictures and seek the advice of truly qualified people.

At Phlearn we have all kind of free tutorial videos that go over just about everything photoshop and photography related.