Vlad, From a fellow northerner in Calgary Canada, I hope the results of your incredible creativity lift your spirits. The results being not only the artwork, but the outpouring of affection. I wish you could see the delight on my own, but especially my children's faces when they see your artwork on my computer desktop. My son, a train fanatic asked to see your Christmas Train piece every day through the holidays on my iPhone and of the course "the real" picture on my desktop. Take care of yourself - take good long walks in that "fresh" Siberian air, and know our thoughts are with you when we look upon your work.

Well, this is quintessential Vlad. Amazing combinations of color and texture, mastery of technique, whimsical theme and a cartoonish element somewhere in the composition. Sometimes the cartoonish aspect is well-integrated (as in "Punctuation") and sometimes it seems willfully incongruous or ironic, like graffiti slapped on top of a masterpiece. Like many here, I'm in love with Vlad's art. But living with the cartoon octopus is a struggle. At the same time, we must realize the composition would be empty, dark and lonely without it. At the risk of offending genius, I try to imagine our pianist without dark stripes and the bulging cartoon eyes replaced by classic Ray-Ban shades with burnt orange lenses. Would that work? Would "Pianist" still be recognizable around the world as a Vlad? If I could answer those questions, I might be creating popular works of art myself instead of slaving 9 to 5 [LOL]!