art, perhaps

Watching a public television segment on mandolin player Chris Thile, it crossed my mind speculatively:

All art begins in friction, but if it remains mired in friction, the best that can come of it is a drama-queen environment filled with "tortured souls."

But where friction has run its course and is left prostrate in the rear-view mirror -- that is the point at which art really begins.

I have a hunch that any artist who has -- if only for a moment -- hit the sweet spot, found the groove or felt the magic will know what I mean.

PS. ... as (perhaps) for example, the old Zen story:

A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was watching him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the student's opinion - who immediately told him that it wasn't any good. The master tried again, but the student criticized the work again. Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same characters, and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn't watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters. "There! How's that?," he asked the student. The student turned to look. "THAT.... is a masterpiece!" he exclaimed.