“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policies, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us", by John Steinbeck, a favorite among many Americans as well as world travelers. Maria Sharlai, the author of "USAdiary" understood this statement only after her two trips to America. Steinbeck's books taught her to listen and notice insights, thus America became for her a country of discoveries, which she reproduced in her sketches.

From the author:

"My name is Maria Sharlai and in my "USAdiary” I drew for travelers who collect stories instead of souvenirs. Unlike John Steinbeck, who wrote while traveling together with his huge shaggy dog Charley, I put everything in sketches. It has been almost 60 years since "Travels with Charley" was released, but the types of Americans that he wrote about in his books can still be found all around the USA. Only the usual pencil for notes was taken over the time and was replaced by IPencil. I had neither a poodle nor a Pulitzer, but Steinbeck's books taught me to notice interesting things. Observing people and things on my trips became a kind of quest for me. What is unusual and unique about every country that evokes the immediate response/reaction: "Really?!" or "Wow!". For me, America became a land of such discoveries and curiosities, where every square inch is full of interesting things. I have traveled to the United States twice and each time I have come back home as a completely new person because of these sketches that are in this exhibit "USAdiary".