My Gurus – Bobby Baker

Mrs Burgess

In my secondary school I had an art teacher called Mrs Burgess. She was a remarkable teacher; a stern and imposing character, who wore flowing bohemian clothes and ran the art room like a professional artists studio. Her friends were artists and she was a Liberal unlike all the Tories in my life then. Her lessons were the highlight of my time at school. She praised my efforts and work, and I yearned to be her favourite pupil. One of my good friends, Frances Spalding, now a well-known art historian, was also good at art. Even though Frankie was not remotely competitive, I felt compelled to compete for top spot and pretended to know what Liberal values were. Mrs B gave me a prized yellow campaign badge, which I hid.