My story began in the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, where I was born and grew up. I started drawing at a very early age. I graduated from art school and art college, planned to apply to an art university. But life itself did not take my plans into consideration. The 1990s were not the best time for developing  art skills. As many other Russian people of that period, I had to do my best to survive especially after the divorce with my husband. My daughter was little back then, I had to provide for the family. I tried to start different  businesses, traveled, and...