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In America, however, she has just found unwanted notoriety for mixing wine and prescription drugs before allegedly drinking liquid hand soap and attacking flight attendants on a trans-Atlantic flight.
Rusanova is spending the weekend in jail in the US state of Maine, following her arrest last week. She is said to have begun "snapping like a dog" and tried to bite the leg of a crew member on the flight, according to court documents.
Rusanova, 54, who lives in London, has been charged with interference with flight crew and assault after the plane on which she was a passenger was diverted to Bangor in Maine during a flight from Los Angeles to London.

She was arrested the next morning after spending the night at Eastern Maine Medical Center for observation, according to court documents. "It's typical of me. I sometimes do crazy things," she is said to have told FBI agents after she was detained and questioned.

It has been claimed in court documents that, in addition to hitting, kicking and punching flight attendants who tried to control her, Rusanova fell to the floor where she tried to bite a flight attendant.

The trouble reportedly began about three hours into the United Airlines flight. Rusanova appeared very intoxicated, according to the court documents, had trouble getting into her seat and kicked the seat in front of her.

She fell asleep for a short time, flight attendants told police. When Rusanova awoke, however, she allegedly began moving about the cabin, bothering passengers and speaking incoherently.

Rusanova then drank a bottle of liquid hand soap that apparently came from a lavatory on the plane as a flight attendant looked on, according to the documents. Heavy drinkers from eastern Europe are known, in desperation, to drink perfume and liquid soap because they contain small quantities of alcohol.

Rusanova allegedly started waving her arms when the flight attendant asked her to return to her seat. In an attempt to control the passenger, the attendant wrapped her arms around Rusanova and managed to get her to the galley of the plane, according to the documents.

At that point, other flight attendants and a passenger tried to calm Rusanova, but she allegedly assaulted them. Crew members managed to handcuff her to a crew member's seat at the rear of the passenger compartment, according to the documents.

In an interview with FBI agents after her arrest on Thursday morning, Rusanova allegedly said she had travelled to California to meet a man she met over the internet. She also told investigators that, because she was afraid to fly, she took prescription pills and wine to calm herself.

On Wednesday's flight, she reported taking sleeping pills and an antidepressant and drinking two or three small bottles of red wine once she had boarded the plane. She said she remembered going on and on about the seating and the quality of the wine, according to the documents, but little else of the flight.

Rusanova did not enter a plea on Friday. A bail hearing is scheduled to be held tomorrow, but it is likely she will be held without bail until her case is resolved. Rusanova told US Magistrate, Judge Margaret Kravchuk, on Friday that she lived on disability allowance in Britain.

On her personal website, Rusanova says that she was born in Siberia, Russia, but that she has been based in the UK for the last 20 years. She started painting seven years ago and her work has sold widely in London.

Two years ago, Rusanova was photographed with members of the Rothschild and Bonham family at the Ansbacher charity art auction in London. She is known for her portraits and her paintings of wildlife and pets.

One friend of the artist said yesterday that Rusanova had intended to travel to America two weeks ago and that she was known to go and meet men that she had encountered over the internet.