The Russians Are Coming!

With the Olympics starting this weekend in Sochi, I thought I'd post a few designs I did recently. They were actually more inspired by reading The Brothers Karamazov, an excellent (and oh, so Russian) book full of intense themes like the nature of evil, the existence of God, the temptations of sensuality, and the folly of pride and hedonism. But it also speaks to that time when Russia was living the high life before World War I, deeply inspired by the West (wearing the fashions of Paris, importing German governesses for their children, discussing the Europeans' experiments with socialism) but still very much its own culture. The czar was an autocrat, the people were passionate, the champagne was flowing while the peasants toiled, the church was sacrosanct and inviolable, the communists were whispering and waiting...it's all such a crazy and fascinating world to dive into.

I've heard it said that there's Africa, the East, the Middle East, the West, and Russia. It's in a category all to its own, which seems true even today.

Anyway, happy Olympics! Go enjoy some Trepak, a bit of vodka, or a prayer service in an Orthodox church.