Your past is well documented - you have made the journey from Margate to Mayfair. Well, I am really proud. I don't like the class system. I find it despicable. And I love people who can bounce through it.
Art is really fantastic for breaking down class barriers.
No, although I did train at the Royal College for two years where I did nothing else but painting and drawing, so I can paint. It means you don't go out without your passport, because you are going to get on a plane tomorrow and you don't know whether you are going home tonight. To be an artist now is fantastic, especially in Britain. It definitely has a glamorous side to it. I was isolated in my studio after I left college and as a result I stopped making art.