The Keeper

Brave New World

Dear M

I enjoy teaching young people like you to paint more than I enjoy painting myself.

I've been teaching for about a decade and I've seen the work of a lot of students. Many of them have been talented and have gone on to study art at college. I know a few who are working as artists now. But none of them had the raw talent you have. Your unique way of seeing things and your style of drawing and painting are gifts. Like all the best gifts, you should value them and look after them, not discard them or neglect them. If your art tuition ends when you leave school, it will be like pushing an albatross out of the nest before it's ready to fly. Your art is a beautiful thing, but it could be spectacular. I'm afraid that if you only do it as a hobby, you'll never progress. Other people may still enjoy what you do, but you'll be missing a chance to create meaningful work that can change how people view the world. The kind of art that can move them and make them connect with concepts that cannot be put into words. The best art does that, and yours isn't there yet. It could be.

Seeing art in books gives you a shadow of the experience of seeing the real work. It's vital that artists see actual great art. I've talked to the headmistress, and she has agreed to a subsidised gallery trip for the class. Details are coming out this week, but I hope you'll come, as we'll visit three of London's best galleries – the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate.

To your questions:

1. My favourite book is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. He wrote it a long time ago, but it seems just as relevant now.

2. I'm not much of a dinner party person. It's more fun for me to go somewhere I can collect wild mussels to cook on a campfire with a bit of white wine and garlic and a good loaf of bread. I'd invite the Prime Minister and see if I could talk some sense into her.

3. I worked on the drawers for the desk I'm making, went on a couple of long walks and marked a lot of homework. It's an exciting life!

4. No, I wouldn't go to Mars. There are too many beautiful places on Earth I haven't seen.

5. When did I last paint something for myself? A long time ago.

Okay, so I have some questions for you:

1. What do you like to do with your free time? Do you ever paint or draw when it is not an assignment?

2. What would you like to be better at depicting in your art?

3. What are you kids listening to these days?

D