FORA - People need to create things, it’s in our being. Our being is the product of unfathomable creation. Many forces of awareness intersect right here in our bodies, imbuing us with the interaction that gives us the power to extend this manifestation of imagination.

Some people create food, some create music- some create drama to make their lives interesting so they can create solutions.

Artists by trade are expected by most people to create beauty. Most people in any given culture share a common vision of beauty. So for those beings with a vision of creation; artists, the culture institutes a state of creative flow at the general level of sophistication as the anybody who would support the artwork. The artist is then responsible to adapt to the institution in order to attain the respect it takes to interact with the levers of society.

A successful artist, one versed in the forms of their medium and channeling the collective vision, will take their livelihood as seriously as the carpenter who built your house takes construction, or the farmer who plants the seeds takes his harvest.

Most of the working class have a very tangible service to offer which keeps their livelihood churning in the flow of civilization. Somebody designed and built all the bikes, somebody constructed the neighborhood, some people actually know how to call computers into existence… what does 'art' have to offer them in return?

No artist creates artwork just for themselves. Creation is the pathway bridging dreams to the ability to share them with others. And there is a chasm between imagination and what's real- between the wildest mental symphony and what the fingers are manifesting spontaneously.

Once the artist is able to manifest a vision of beauty which others can share, the artwork becomes a social medium, an object of collective perception which contributes to the cultural landscape.

Now to span the chasm between imagination and manifestation, the artist has to build a bridge, and this bridge could be considered ‘talent’. Talent is the portal bridging these dimensions.

This is a most subtle bridge, talent. No amount of exerting gross efforts will not call it into existence, although cultivating the right habits and insight will effortlessly manifest it. The subtlety of this portal brings integrity to it’s creation. It connects the unhinged spontaneous flows of ethereal realms into form that can be tangibly shared with other beings, rendering the artist a real bridge between these dimensions.

If the construction of this bridge is undertaken as seriously as a contractor takes the building a bridge which many people will drive over each day, the artist who is the bridge will have found the support of all who identify with their creation, and will attract to themselves many people who share this vision. People who have never seen that vision will be introduced to it, and it may expand their perception into new realms.

This is what the artist has to offer- music, imagery, stories… a vision of consciousness that no camera will ever capture, yet we would all love to share.