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So i got an email from my secondary school art teacher yesterday. She is doing a retrospective of her past students who have gone on to study art at higher education. Apparently i'm on some email lists i was previously unaware of, and my name came up. It is true that after leaving her class i have gone on to study art at a good university, and i am starting to make breakthroughs into forming some sort of career. i would not attribute my success as an artist to her tuition however. As an art teacher, i found that she suffered from all the negative clichés that could possibly apply to an art teacher. She was a person who had clearly had no artistic success and instead lived her failed dreams through her job in a public school dominating small children. As a small child, i found her formidable and i never felt particularly endeared to work hard in class. On her part, she considered me a dreamer and a waste of her time. Luckily enough, her complete lack of any encouragement did not pervert me from my cause and i went on to achieve what i thought was a successful body of work for her to mark me on. She gave me a B grade, which i sincerely believe was the bare minimum she could have given me. As a side note: another of her particular perversions is a singular style of painting which she inflicts on her students like a savage burn, whilst doggedly punishing students who worked outside of her style. i am still in contact with some of her past student's and they still have the scars of this style show up in their work. in an opertunistic sence, there is a good opertunety to stand out in a sea of the same style. 6 years after breaking contact and pursuing my own goals, i receive this email from the blue. She is offering me a small amount of money, which is nice, and on top of this, appearing in a public gallery can only help my career prospects. plus there is always the hidden benefit of a feeling of vindication. i honestly believe i can produce a really good piece of work for this show, which will be a opportunity to prove to myself that the rejection she directed towards me was unfounded. i am in no doubt that this retrospective is a self-serving endeavour to further her career, and any work of merit will be attributed to her. on some level i think that i should play no part in such flagrant false advertising. Also after listening to freedomain radio, i have tried to make my art be an honest exploration of my true self, which has resulted in some new work. the thought of giving this emotional exploration of my deepest feelings to this corrupt woman gives me the hebbe geebies. i am also worried about the work being subconsciously repressed, or even actively censored by her (i have seen her pick up art work and make huge changes without asking) with the result being a morally corrupt work. ultimately, however, i feel this kind of opportunity might only come one time and i don't want to miss it. I would like to think that my art will stand up against corruption and so i don't want to snub it because of my own internal fears. I would like opinions on whether you think this endeavour is futile, whether my eagerness to do this work indicates something troubling in my subconcious and any advice you might have towards entering this kind of arrangement with a dangerous person.