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February 22, 2021 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

“The mind is its own place and, in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.” – John Milton

Widely considered the most significant English writer after William Shakespeare, John Milton proved that the pen can truly be mightier than the sword.

Born in London, England, in 1608 Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, one of the greatest poems ever written in the English language.

Originally published across a series of 10 books in 1667, it tells the biblical story of the fall from grace of Adam and Eve and by extension all of humanity in eloquent prose that uses the power of rhythm and sound to convey his message.

Following this epic poem, he published Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, which confirmed Milton’s reputation as one of the greatest English poets of all time.

At the centre of his work, Milton regularly advocated for the abolition of the Church of England and the monarchy, despite the fact that he could be killed for such treason.

Regardless of the dangers, all of his works espoused a political philosophy that opposed tyranny and state-sanctioned religion, including during the English Civil Wars in 1642 and the restoration of Charles II as king in 1660.

In his work on theology, he valued liberty of conscience, religious toleration toward dissidents and the importance of scripture as a guide in matters of faith.

Upholding these attributes at a time when such thoughts, let alone words, were considered treasonous, helped cement Milton’s reputation and attention from those in power, in 1649 Milton became a civil servant and for a time the voice of the English Commonwealth thanks to his role in handling its international correspondence and his defence of the government against attacks from abroad.

While his public life was widely successful, privately he struggled. A few months after he married Mary Powell in 1642, she deserted him and returned to her family’s residence in Oxfordshire. While the reason for their separation was unknown, speculation suggested that Powell’s family may have been Royalists, creating a divide between her family and Milton’s anti-royalist sentiments. Others have suggested she left him because she was only 17 years old while he was 34 years of age when they got married.

Despite nearly a three-year absence, Mary unexpectedly returned one day and they soon managed to overcome their differences having four children, three daughters and a son, who died at the age of one. Mary also died while giving birth to their fifth child.

During the estrangement with his wife, Milton began to explore the foundations of marriage in several proses, including The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Despite his own personal experience, Milton put together a cogent, radical argument for divorce, an argument informed by the concepts of personal liberty and individual freedom, the latter being instrumental in maintaining or ending a marriage.

For Milton, marriage depended on the compatibility of the partners, and to maintain a marriage that is without mutual love and sympathy would be in violation of one’s personal liberty.

Around the same time, he began exploring the idea of divorce and marriage, he also began exploring the philosophy around education and freedom of expression. In his poem Areopagitica, which opposes government licensing of publications and censorship, he argues that governments insisting on the expression of uniform beliefs are tyrannical.

Following the death of his first wife he began losing his sight and married Katherine Woodcock in 1656. Their marriage lasted only 15 months before she died within months after having their first child. Following her death, he wedded Elizabeth Minshull in 1663, who, along with the daughters from his first marriage, assisted him with his personal needs, read from books at his request, and recorded verses for his poems that he dictated.

It was during his final years with his wife and children by his side that he dictated Paradise Lost, one of the greatest poems ever written in the English language.

Despite Milton’s continued advocacy for freedom of worship and freedom from authoritarian rule, he eventually ran into trouble with those in power and was placed under arrest and threaten with execution for encouraging the murder of the king.

While he was never executed and eventually freed, Milton died in 1674 from complications of gout. He was buried inside St. Giles Cripplegate Church in London.

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February 15, 2021 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

“Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.” Patti Wilson

The iconic stylist Patti Wilson was born and raised in New York and since early childhood has had a deep fascination with fashion and, in particular, styling. During her professional career, she has worked side by side with some of the most influential fashion photographers of our time.

Names such as Steven Klein, David LaChapelle, Terry Richardson, Peter Lindeberg, and Steven Miesel are just a few with whom she’s had the great privilege of collaborating. Along with these great photographers, she produced work for L’ Uomo Vogue, Italian Vogue, I-D, and Numero, all of which have had an extraordinary impact on the fashion world over the past decade.

Patti continues to collaborate with the most prominent artists and is acknowledged globally for her eclectic style. Her endless ability to present clientele like Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Valentino, with unique, diverse, and trailblazing style continues to drive the industry forward.

Starting in her early years as a fashion stylist, she had a fortunate encounter with David LaChapelle during the very first Alexander McQueen exhibition. The show had a profound and deep impact on Patti, and she later recalled that it was the first time she realized fashion could be “half-dead and half-alive.”

Before realizing her career in the fashion industry, Patti was employed as a waitress and hostess at a Jazz Club in uptown New York. There she had the opportunity to mingle with celebrities from Hollywood, Broadway, and Professional Sports. She recalls meeting legends like Muhammed Ali and Woody Allen, a frequent client at the club because of his passion for playing the horn.

The club also provided the chance to meet with a female photographer who taught Patti about styling. Until then, Patti admits to being absolutely obsessed with a girl from her school who was a model. Patti remembers the model leaving school early to do shoots for the famous teen magazine Seventeen. Patti says, ” It was so unheard of. She would wear the most beautiful coats over her uniforms; she was absolutely exquisite.”

Working closely with David LaChapelle, the most influential photographer of our times, helped Patti’s stylistic character progress to new levels she thought impossible. According to Patti, David was an amusing guy to work with, and she recalls when she went in for a shoot how he would poke fun at her and the fact she was always dressed in “drag” clothes.

Looking closely at Patti Wilson’s life and career, it’s clear to see she has always walked to the beat of her own drum. One might be inclined to think she was almost destined to become one of the most influential stylists the fashion industry has seen.

Patti’s famous quote,” following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity,” highlights and showcases the importance of embracing your individual personality and not “going along to get along.” Be your own creative self, follow your dreams, create your own unique identity, and forget what others think.

Patti is known in the industry for pushing the limits of what others thought impossible in terms of stylistic creativity and design. Working as Whitney Houston’s stylist was an experience she will never forget, and even Patti herself has said she was fired twice by Houston but somehow always ended up going back.According to Patti, Whitney was always “different with her,” and she never once questioned Patti’s stylistic impressions.

To this day, Patti is one of the most popular and influential stylists in the industry. She has an office in New York, located on the same floor as a children’s school which she says is a blast.

“Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.”

February 8, 2021 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out” –Robert Collier

We all know that success doesn’t come easily, but what does it actually mean to achieve it? Who was Robert Collier, and more importantly, what did he know about success?

Robert Collier was a spiritual self-help author from St. Louis, Missouri. His teachings guided many towards healing through the law of attraction, Metaphysical practices, and New Thought methods.

Before he found success in writing, Mr. Collier had a life full of struggles and successes through his own efforts, which is why this quote in particular rings of truth; someone who’s actually achieved success.

In this quote, Robert Collier defines success on his terms, which he’s obviously achieved because his publishing company is still up and running after more than 90 years, with the help of his descendants. To understand a bit more about this quote learn a little bit more about the man behind the quote itself.

Who Was Robert Collier?

Robert Collier was born on April 19, 1885, to Mary and John Collier. John Collier worked as a foreign correspondent for his brother Peter, who owned Collier Magazine. This meant that he was often away, leaving Mary to care for their two sons until her death when Robert was around 12 years old.

Robert was educated in a seminary with the intent of becoming a priest but changed his mind before the final ceremony. He then headed to West Virginia, where he spent the next eight years working in the mining industry as an engineer. While he was there, he read a lot of material that would inspire him to become a writer.

Metaphysics and New Though Movement:

As a young man, Collier was ill with an un-diagnosable chronic disease, which played a big part in his skepticism of traditional medicine. In fact, he believed that most ailments were a result of foods that had been chemically treated.

Eventually, and miraculously, Robert Collier healed himself through Christian science methods after suffering for some time. After that, he started rigorously studying metaphysics and the New Thought Movement. He dove into researching the powers of the human mind, the Law of Attraction, and other metaphysical elements.

What Did Robert Collier Know About Success, Anyway?

His life-changing success in copywriting, paired with his beliefs led him to strike out on his own, writing his first publication, a volume of seven books called, “The Book of Life”. The next year, he wrote his most famous book, “Secret of the Ages” that made one million dollars in its first six months, which was a remarkable success in 1926. Over the next 25 years, it would sell over 300,000 copies.

He founded Robert Collier Publications which is still going to this day, thanks to the Collier family. He passed in 1950, leaving behind an eternal memorial through his work that has even gone on to inspire authors like self-help guru Rhonda Byrne, who wrote the popular law of attraction book, The Secret.

What to Take Away from This Quote:

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in, and day-out.”

Robert Collier wrote this particular quote in one of his later books, “Riches Within Your Reach!” He attributed much of his success to the use of the law of attraction, while never forgetting the actual hard work it took him to learn and then write these works. He studied for many years and struggles many times before achieving his greatest success.

What this quote truly means is that success isn’t handed to anyone. It’s achieved by hard work and what you do every day to get to your goal. Your efforts don’t have to be big leaps and bounds to achieve success, take a realistic approach to taking the necessary steps. When you’ve achieved such success, don’t forget to remember what brought you to it in the first place.

Other Quotes By Robert Collier

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint, and begin to build.”
“The first principle of success is desire – knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed.”
“In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.”
“Constant repetition carries conviction.”
“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.”
“If you don’t make things happen then things will happen to you.”
“Any thought that is passed on to the subconscious often enough and convincingly enough is finally accepted.”
“Supply always comes on the heels of demand.”
“See things as you would have them be instead of as they are.”

February 1, 2021 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Sally Berger

Curating a lifetime of art

For as long as Sally Berger can remember she has always had an eye for art.

As a young woman growing up in New York City in the 1980s she loved going to art house cinemas, visiting galleries in Soho and seeing works in the downtown theater scene.

Keen to pursue her passion, in 1982 she decided to apply to Fordham University at the Lincoln Center campus to study video art, media theory and documentary. While at Fordham she was introduced to Barbara London, who was head of the video program at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), a relationship that would propel her career for the next three decades.

In her final year at college she got an opportunity to work with the video program within the department of film at The Modern Museum of Art, where she helped maintain the video study center book and video collection and artist files.

During this time she also became the executive director for the Flaherty Seminar, a media arts organization that brings together diverse, curious minds to foster an in-depth discourse on film and the creative process.

After spending eight years with the video program at the museum, in 1994 she became an assistant curator, where she helped organize and mount over 25 media and film exhibitions. Around the same time, she also decided to continue her education and completed a Masters of Art in cinema studies at New York University.

With two degrees in hand and more than a decade of experience with The Modern Museum of Art, her role and responsibilities continued to grow. By 1998, she initiated an annual exhibition collaboration with the Flaherty Seminars and by 2001 helped co-found the Documentary Fortnight.

After spending 30 years with the museum, in 2016 she was unexpectedly fired by the museum’s chief film department curator. While the reasons why she was fired remain unclear, several media outlets reported at the time that it was likely because of her decision to cancel the New York debut of Under the Sun, a controversial North Korean documentary film directed by Russian filmmaker Vitayl Mansky.

Whatever the case, in 2016 Berger became a research fellow for the Centre for Culture, Media and History at New York University and in January 2018 she became an assistant professor at Harvard College.

January 25, 2021 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

“Pushing the boundaries of creativity“

Whether you’re a struggling writer, a starving musician or an aspiring artist, getting recognized for the work you produce is difficult even at the best of times.

For others, like French painter Henri Matisse, his work was not only recognized for its visual appeal, but he is commonly regarded as one of the artists who helped revolutionize and define visual arts throughout the opening decades of the twentieth century.

Known for his expressive use of colour and drawing, which can be seen in his work spanning nearly five decades, he is widely recognized as a leading figure in modern art alongside other famous artists like Pablo Picasso.

Born in 1869 in northern France, Matisse grew up in a middle-class family before going to law school in Paris. Two years into law school his studies were sidelined when he was diagnosed with appendicitis. While he was recovering, his mother bought him art supplies to help him pass the time, a decision that would change the course of his life forever.

While recovering from appendicitis, he soon discovered a burning passion to paint and decided upon his return to Paris that he would study art at the Académie Julian. While he initially painted still lifes and landscapes in a traditional style, in 1896 he was introduced to impressionism and to the work of Vincent van Gogh.

Struck by Van Gogh’s use of vibrant colours, Matisse immediately abandoned his earth-coloured palette for bright colours and later that year exhibited five paintings at Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, two of which were purchased by the state.

With his new-found success, he grew in confidence both as an artist and a man, and over the next two years his colours became lighter in hue while at the same time more intense. Around the same time he also married a young woman from Toulouse named Amélie Parayre. Together they left Paris for a year and visited London where he studied the paintings of J.M.W. Turner before travelling to Corsica, where he received a lasting impression of Mediterranean sunlight and colour.

As his career progressed his fondness for bright and expressive colour became more pronounced and he quickly became one of the leaders of the Fauvism style, which emphasized strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by impressionism.

While the undisciplined nature of Fauvism didn’t last very long and was soon replaced by expressionism and cubism, it didn’t affect Matisse’s career.

His paintings, and soon his sculptures, began making appearances at art exhibits across the world including in New York and London.

By middle age and with growing affluence and an established international reputation, the disruptions of World War I isolated him from the centres of avant-gardism. As a result, he began to spend his winters on the French Riviera, and by the early 1920s he was mostly a resident of Nice.

During this time his pictures became less daring and less economical. Like many of the painters and composers during these years, such as Pablo Picasso and Igor Stravinsky, Matisse relaxed into a modernized sort of classicism.

In the following two decades between the first and second world war, Matisse created costumes for a ballet production, returned to creating sculptures and continued to paint. He also found the time to travel to many far off places, such as Tahiti and San Francisco.

During his final years of his life he led a rather solitary existence after his wife ended their 41-year marriage in 1939 and the Nazi’s invaded France. Despite the occupation, Matisse was still able to exhibit his artwork after signing an oath assuring his “Aryan” status.

By 1941, Matisse’s health took a turn for the worse when he was diagnosed with abdominal cancer. Despite a successful surgery, he suffered serious complications that left him wheel and bedbound.

During this time he continued to pursue his passion for art and developed a new art form called paper mache using glue and scissors until his death in 1954.