Eric (Ricky) Atkinson was born in Hartlepool but has lived in Ontario for much of his life. He is recognised as an important Canadian landscape painter, but equally significant is his work as an art educator, stemming from his years as a teacher on the Basic Course at Leeds College of Art in the 1950s and 1960s. The premise of this course was not the transfer of skill but the discovery of new aesthetic territories through freedoms of self-expression. David Lewis, architect, writer and teacher, was himself a student on the Basic Course. This volume contains a spirited exchange of letters between Ricky Atkinson and David Lewis, and an array of English, Canadian and American artists and teacher friends, which offers an insight into the creative processes at the heart of art education over the last 40 years of the 20th century. It is illustrated with reproductions of work by Ricky Atkinson, and other comparative material. A limited edition of 75 copies is also available, which includes an original drawing prepared and signed by the artist.