The dog, the rabbit and the hoop all feature in the painting, and take the place of the orrery.

I think most artists find it difficult to part with their work but it's the parting that keeps us alive and keeps us working. In the case of the chariot, although it's been sold I actually still have it, just in another form.

I started by looking at what others had done before me. You see, over the years there have been attempts by many different people to reconstruct the chariot.

The hoop is there to remind us not to jump through it, not to submit to someone else's control.

Practical! On Wednesday afternoons I could be practically anything. What's up?

Once upon a perfect night, unclouded and still, there came the face of a pale and beautiful lady. The tresses of her hair reached out to make the constellations, and the dewy vapours of her gown fell soft upon the land.

He was so tenacious he defied the distraction of women by refusing to have them in his presence, just as later in life he denied his blindness by calling for more and more candles.