Interview

• Describe where you are from and give us information about your family.

I cannot disclose such information as it may give away my identity. But, I can tell you I'm from a highly respected family in Europe. I have connections with the richest of the rich.

• What events in your early life made you get interested in the arts? 

As I said in my book The Mirror of Graces, I had an "intimate acquaintance with manners and fashions of highest rank in country but also foreign courts." I was always taught to act like a lady and dress as one would too. I was raised to keep it classy. I want to help change women for the better. I believe the more respectable a lady appears to others the farther she will go in life.

• What mentors did you have and how did they encourage you to do what you did? 

To keep my name and identity secret I cannot specifically name one person. But, I can say I had some female friends who lived in remote West England. They wrote to me, knowing my knowledge of all things honorable, applying to me for certain directions on the subject. 

• What was the world of art like in your field when you entered it?

I wouldn't call my field art. Exchange of knowledge, teaching how to conduct yourself would seem more appropriate. When I entered it, fine clothes and manners were excused from the middle and lower classes. It was reserved more for the upper class and all those around that. I made it possible for anyone to conduct themselves as appropriately as they should. There really is no excuse. My knowledge will open doors if followed. Now it's available for everyone. 

• How did culture, economic, and political times impact your work? 

Culturally, economically, and politically men were superior. If you were a woman who expected to be given the time of day you needed to dress yourself with as much, or more, respect as you wanted to recieve. I believe women should care about their appearance if they want to succeed at anything. Us women of such respect are expected to have the highest degree of virtue and taste if you want to make it in public.

• What are your accomplishments and what methods did you use? 

I am a published author and a mentor. Although, I will not be truly accomplished until I have given all ladies of such a high respect as myself the power to adorn the mind as to decorate the body. There really is no set method for my talent. I'm just trying to share my knowledge of manners and beauty with women everywhere. 

• What were the key opportunities you had that led to turning points in your life and art? 

I'd rather not give too many details as that would defeat the purpose of being anonymous. But, growing up in the high class society of Europe certainly contributed to it. I've learned a lot through my childhood just watching my mother conduct herself appropriately around other adults. Later in my life I learned how important your image and manners are in earning respect. 

• What hardships or roadblocks did you have to overcome in order to be an artist?

As I've mentioned before, being a woman definately made it hard to earn respect. I believe without my manners and self-respect I would've gotten nowhere. You need knowledge and confidence. How can anyone believe in you if you can't believe in yourself? 

• Who are people that you admire and why? 

Any woman with manners, knowledge, style, and self-respect. Any woman who can prove a man wrong and look good while doing it.