An unconventional education

SEEING John Bratby’s paintings (Art Market, March 2) reminded me of my interview at Kingston School of Art in 1959, where the principal, Reginald Brill, had a catalogue of Bratby’s work on his desk. He explained that hard work was expected and Bratby had been kicked out of the school, but had succeeded against the odds. The same outcome was realised four years later, when I spent too much time at Decca Studios, driving to sessions with guitarist Jimmy Page. Called to explain myself, I produced one of my sketchbooks. One look at pages of guitarists and other session men was enough. I was out. The replacement principal, Wilfred Fairclough—also chairman of that booting-out committee—hearing, in 1968, that I had been doing quite well, invited me to call in at any time, having expelled me four years before. Timothy Easton, Suffolk