Sometimes an image comes to mind through dream or the mind's eye which begs to be illustrated in some form and by some means.
After the image of a sphere set in a cube appeared to me I felt challenged to depict it in Adobe Illustrator - my means.
It wasn't intended to be an artwork but through force of habit my 'sphere in a cube' has become an element for future use.
Through a google search I discovered its popularity as a subject for artists and I think if I was still teaching art I'd set it as a subject for my students.