Art a state of mind?

A point was made about states of mind in another thread, and I replied to it without considering it a bit of an irrelevant shoe-horn (my reply, not the original observation). So I'll paste it here, in a nice new slot, because I found the subject interesting  - and others... well;  they MIGHT; you never know.   Here we go: For what it's worth -  half a crown in old money - artists' states of mind vary so much between them that it's hard indeed to draw conclusions; we're discussing L S Lowrey elsewhere, and the point has been made that his paintings seem to have very little to do with his state of mind, and far more to do with his immediate environment.  That still leaves you with the question why - why did he respond to it in paint; where does the creative urge come from; why, as it seems, don't we all have it?  If I were to write a monograph - and don't worry: I won't - I think I'd argue that the creative urge IS alive in most of us, manifesting in very different ways (even designing a filing system is quite creative), that isolating "art" from just "making" may be misleading; and so many other factors are involved - class; opportunity; early influences; environment; historical and political events; sexuality; nationality - that no common root can be observed beyond the fact that we choose to fill our time in possibly numinous ways, according to the talents we might have (and wherever they come from): and if not in numinous then at least in numerous examples. I think about that now and then in relation to my father and grandfather; my father took up painting very late in life, my grandfather had very little aesthetic awareness, at least so far as paintings were concerned, but both made furniture - from the use of which I still  benefit.  That was certainly creative, and sadly, I've not inherited their abilities - I don't think their creativity arose from any state of mind: it was cheaper to build a bedside cabinet than buy one at the time - plus they both enjoyed working with their hands.  Or, to put it another way - we all admire Chippendale, but  no one has ever inquired into the state of mind that led him to design and create beautiful furniture....  I'm confident that I've entirely lost my way in that thicket of ill-digested thoughts, but such as it is - there it is: and you can't say fairer than that....

I was very amused by Paul's last comment - it reminded me of Dalí, asked why he'd painted melting pocket watches - something  to do with observing fried eggs was his reply.  We can read a lot too much into artists' intentions;  or at least, those who write pretentiously about art can; and often do.