As the years went on, he entered the Moscow Higher Art and Craft School at age seventeen, but was unfortunately conscripted a year later. However, Kush's love for art did not go away. After six months of military training, the unit commander thought it would be more appropriate to employ him exclusively for peaceful purposes, that is to say, painting propagandistic posters After military service and graduating the Institute of Fine Arts, Kush continued his passion by painting portraits on Arbat Street to support his family. In 1987, Kush began to take part in exhibitions organized by a group of Soviet artists and art critics called the Union of Artists. Three years later at a show in Coburg, Germany, nearly all of his displayed paintings were sold. After closing the exhibition, he flew to Los Angeles and began, what he calls, his "America Odyssey." There, Kush worked in a small, rented home garage, but was unable to find a place to display his paintings. He earned money by drawing portraits on the Santa Monica pier and was eventually able to purchase a ticket to his dream land,