Now that it's springtime I am feeling like it's (finally) time to come out of hibernation mode and start sharing what I've been up to. I had the great fortune to go to Russia last week and the experience was a visual feast that has left me positively buzzing with creative inspiration. We went to the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg the day before we left. IT WAS INSANE. I had been reading an excellent 600+ page book about Catherine the Great all through the trip, so when I realized that she founded the Hermitage museum I was even more excited to go. Catherine the Great was a very interesting woman. Born German and married very young to the future Czar Peter III, Catherine was an extremely intelligent, warm and patient woman who seized the crown in a coup a few months in to her husbands reign. Her husband was an emotional cripple who enjoyed playing with life size dolls of Prussian soldiers and sleeping with all her ladies in waiting. Even though he was a direct descendant of Peter the Great, he hated Russia and was obsessed with the king of Prussia. She on the other hand was a very dutiful wife who was much loved by all. When it came time to take the power from her husband, she completely turned the tables on him. She ended up ruling Russia as empress for 37 years and her reign is now known as Russia's Golden age. She began collecting the artwork that is now part of the Hermitage Museum two years in to her reign. The Hermitage today is the fourth largest museum in the world, with over 3 million artworks and the largest collection of paintings in the world.
When we were there, the thing the struck me most was how thoroughly and completely the whole space was designed. Every single element is a masterpiece. It was like walking through a grand creative vision realized and manifested to the nth degree. After reading so much about the personal life and struggles of the woman who established this place, I was really deeply struck by how much is really possible in a life. I know it's like an anthill being inspired by Mt Everest but still it was a personal revelation for me, being in that incredibly opulent and realized space. I am feeling so inspired now to give everything to my creative vision - to really just go for it. I'm not sure how it's all going to translate and manifest, but I am just going to show up and give what I've got. The collaging has already begun :)
