This piece started with the picture of totally unremarkable street in St. Petersburg that was sent to me by a customer (to paint). After some investigation into the story, why he was asking me to paint the street, I learned that not particularly the street, but the house (the building) and the entryway were actually a memory for him and his siblings, and a cousin, for whom he intended the piece. And Voila! Some images from recent travels and Google search combined, coupled with some imagination, “The World Beyond“ was born. Working on it was close to my heart because my family is from St. Petersburg and I could imagine my mother to be a girl in the painting.