I just responded as follows to the question, on a forum for writers and editors on Linked In, Where do Ideas Come From?:
Somebody once said to me (this was in terms of painting) that a successful passage of painting was just ‘accidental’, i.e. a lucky stroke of the brush. That struck me as wrong, but I couldn’t figure out why. Then it came to me. It’s not the accident itself, but what you DO with the accident. That takes perception and skill. it takes being open to ‘accidents’, which one artist will identify with his/her spirituality and another to his/her psychology. Or both. Or some other source. It takes learning the skills and finding the tools needed to translate the metaphor embedded in the ‘accident’ into a work of art.
Oh and I gave up long ago believing in ‘accidents’.
I’d also suggest, if you want to point a finger towards a concrete place for the source of ideas, that you read Deepak Chopra‘s Quantum Healing. Phenomenal book that is also a map, which is an added reason for why it speaks to me so profoundly (of course!). I’ll be doing a review when I’ve finished reading it. Though it is so famous it hardly needs one.
What is the source of your creative inspiration?
Ann
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Poetic Mapping: Walking Into Art 
Psychology, philosophy, mythology, and nature are what inspire me most. But inspiration can be like a hunger pang – anything can trigger it when you haven’t allowed yourself time to eat.
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Thanks for responding. Perceptive. Most interesting that you equate inspiration with hunger. I suppose the constant hunger to create that drives artists is an open door on inspiration.
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