Mindfulness and the artist

When do you have your best ideas? I know for a lot of people it is outside, walking in nature. Or perhaps, for you, it is in the bath, or in those warm, confused moments just before sleep comes. It might be in meetings, when you've zoned out, or when you have your hands in your materials allowing them to connect directly to your wordless brain that speaks through shape, and imagery and texture. Most of us need to be alone sometimes, to be free from the daily bombardment of stimulus. Our minds need to burble away. And yes, we need inspiration too, but then, at last, we need time for things to bubble up. This has been happening to me a lot in my meditation class. While sitting there, letting thoughts float past, I've found that so many of them are juicy, lovely, inspired thoughts, the sort that really feel like seedlings, ready to really become something. And I try to let them sail past, but sometimes I float along with them and paint a whole painting in my mind, or at least put a pin in it for later. I want to find a way to make time for this in my artistic practice. It's so hard to give ourselves permission, isn't it, to be still, to float away. Have you found a way?