Dormant Abilities Awakened for Creativity

I had lunch with a friend yesterday. He is about sixty and works as a corporate executive. He is a perfectionist in everything he does, which has included a wide range of interests from physics and violin to now painting. While showing me his paintings which are a combination of Escher and Monet and quite good, he mentioned that he was now seeing the world differently. He said he has found a new appreciation for color, perspective and shapes. After we talked about his new level of appreciation for things artistic, we tried to find an explanation for this appreciation. My friend said that "it must have been dormant" and now has awoken. I said that creativity is frequently a result of child like behavior and that he had returned to the natural state of a child. Even if schools or parents or environment have turned off the natural talents and interests of childhood, it appears some of us can turn the talent back on. My friend is very intelligent, intense about what he does and sets the highest standards for himself. I have not read anything about the conditions required to reawaken childlike abilities, but it would be interesting to hear similar stories. My hypothesis at this point is that perfection or precision is the trigger to reawaken the natural ability.