Did you get a chance to read the wedding tips from Wedding Window? Last week, we brought the experts at Wedding Window onto the UGallery blog to advise us on branding a wedding in an artful manner. This week, we’ve invited them back to give us some visual clues on what makes a great wedding. Wedding Window will be pinning pins of gowns, invitations, venues and more onto UGallery’s “Artful Weddings” board. This guest board, an incarnation of the “Be Art Guest” board, is exclusively for wonderful wedding inspiration, so it’s only fitting that Wedding Window would hop on. Without further ado, I pronounce Wedding Window this week’s guest pinner.

Happy Pinning!

UGallery releases new art and welcomes new artists to our community every week. We love seeing what each new week will bring. This week’s newest artist are Michael O’Day and Kevin Perlic! Read on below to learn a little bit more about her work.

Michael O’Day. Taylor, Pennsylvania.

Forms and Shapes IV

Reality is the foundation of Michael O’Day’s art. He mimics the geometric shapes and shadows that dance in the real world with charcoal to form a direct representation of his inner reality. Michael says, “I use the reality we see as a kind of armature on which to build an alternate reality.” He pulls direct inspiration from George Inness, Robert Kipniss, Thomas Hart Benton, and Diego Rivera.

Kevin Perlic. Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Peacock

Kevin Perlic found photography to be a means of capturing the world around him. Kevin seeks the beautiful in nature and life by peering through the lens of his camera. With a snap of the shutter and his own artistic manipulations, Kevin captures the true essence of the environment. While he loves to take photos in and around the Mid-West, he also document the travels he embarks on with his wife. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Cleveland State University.

If you’re loving these artists, let them know by leaving a comment on their UGallery profile page. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

We are so excited to have Wedding Window join us to give us the tips needed to make our weddings artful! Read on below for inspiration on making your big day truly one to remember.

Hi!  We’re Wedding Window and we’re so happy to be visiting the UGallery blog today to share some wedding branding tips with you!  Creating a wedding brand allows you to create a sense of consistency and anticipation for your guests. Similar to the way companies create custom brands to represent their business, creating a personalized wedding brand will enable you to introduce your wedding theme and your style as a couple well ahead of the event. Not to mention, if you build a wedding brand, it allows your guests to get a sense of what they have to look forward to from the point they receive your save the date.

When creating your wedding brand, you’ll want to start by selecting specific design elements that show your style and personality as a couple but also reflect your wedding theme. Since the initial piece you send your guests sets the tone for the rest of the event, you’ll want to think through your choices carefully before you send it out. Whether you focus on a particular color palette, pattern or theme… you’ll want to make sure that the concept of your brand flows throughout your wedding design from beginning to end.

Your wedding brand should be apparent to your guests right from the very start and today we’re here to tell you how.  At Wedding Window, we offer the perfect way to introduce your guests to your brand with our customizable wedding websites.  We have some very sweet free website themes, but for a website with ultimate customization options, you can also upgrade to one of our premium themes which include a host of possibilities, including custom color schemes, custom photo options, music and more!  You can even include your UGallery Art Wedding Registry on your website.  

To make it easier for you to carry your brand from your wedding website into the rest of your wedding details, we recently partnered up with Simply to Impress to provide our couples with matching paperie for your wedding website!  With our themes Stitch, Darkroom and Favori there are options for matching Save the Dates, Engagement Party Invites, Bridal Shower Invites and Wedding Announcements. 

We are thrilled to invite Rashi Birla of the design blog, Bucket of Squash, to UGallery’s “Be Art Guest” Pinterest board. Think of Bucket of Squashas virtual potpourri. It’s a hand-crafted mix of wonderful things. Rashi is a blogger meets graphic designer who culls her favorite designs and visuals from the blog-o-sphere and beyond to present true beauty to her readers. Since spring is in full bloom, Rashi plans to pin all the things that make her think of this wonderful season. The very first board on her Pinterest is dedicated to Flowers & Foliage, so I know this will be a ton of fun. Check out the pin below from that very board.

Sweet, right? If you want to see more like it, jump right on board to UGallery’s “Be Art Guest” board to see more of her floral and springtime finds.

Happy Pinning, Rashi!

UGallery releases new art and welcomes new artists to our community every week. We love seeing what each new week will bring. This week’s newest artist are Debbie Angell, Claudia Davis, Karin Johanneson, Ziling Wang and Ying Zheng! Read on below to learn a little bit more about her work.

Debbie Angell. Battle Creek, Michigan.

Neon Fresco II
Debbie Angell began her artistic career as a graphic artist living and working in a host of places from Germany to the Pacific Northwest. Debbie culls inspiration from her travels as well as the cultural institutions she frequents. Debbie currently resides in Western Michigan with her 16-year-old dog loyally by her side.

Claudia Davis. Granbury, Texas.

Sailing on Flat Head Lake

Claudia Davis is passionate about Montana’s landscapes. With oils in hand, Claudia paints en plain air to capture the true essence of the environment. She is inspired by Katherine Stats and Jill Carver.

Karin Johanneson. Waterloo, Ontario.

Irises

Karin Johanneson is a self-taught artist from Ontario who specializes in contemporary watercolor paintings. Karin enjoys expanding the conventions of this traditional medium with her use of vibrant colors and spontaneous brushstrokes. While she enjoys to paint flowers most, she is expanding her art to encompass the alluring portrait.

Ziling Wang. London, United Kingdom.

Kingfisher

Ziling Wang completed her MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) and had great success in the art and design world. She participated in Alexander McQueen’s 2011 global retail collection. She says, “My watercolor drawings give the traditional Chinese watercolor paintings a contemporary edge by adding a textile and flat graphical element to the feathers and branches. It also incorporates subtle color changes which provides a more artistic, rather than realistic, interpretation.”

Ying Zheng. Bellingham, Washington

Lotus Pond No. 1

Ying Zheng is inspired by poetry and prose and references the beauty of the written word  in her powerful abstract paintings. She organizes color and shape to create a melody and rhythm similar to music. Her play with harmonic colors and literary thoughts results in stunning paintings.

If you’re loving these artists, let them know by leaving a comment on their UGallery profile page. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

In honor of our Bedroom Makeover Giveaway with Crane & Canopy, we pulled together three of our favorite bedroom makeovers from expert interior designers and homeowners just like you. With these rooms as inspiration and our $500 bedding and art giveaway (which you can enter for a chance to win here), you’ll be one step closer to making your dream bedroom a reality.

Put a Frame On It

DesignSponge featured this bedroom makeover from interior designer Shannon Kaye. There are a lot of DIY touches that look absolutely stunning (interior designer-approved). Beyond the new wall color and fancy bedding, we love the bold photographs (framed perfectly) hanging on the wall.

Happy in the Hamptons

Photo Credit: Trevor Tondro of Housebeautiful

Housebeautiful editor Frances Schultz worked on her East Hampton home renovations one room at a time. It’s pretty darn cool to turn an arched wall into a vanity, but what really catches the eye is the art. Look at that gorgeous gallery wall.

Paintings and Pillows

Don’t have a mirror that you can perfectly fit into the enclaves of your room? You can make a difference in your bedroom without grand gestures. Simply adding colorful throw pillows and a beautiful painting above your headboard can make your bedroom a whole new space. This bedroom makeover was featured in the wonderful Apartment Therapy.

Are you inspired yet? Enter our giveaway and you’ll earn $250 to Crane & Canopy as well as $250 to UGallery. It’s a perfect place to start. Have fun and get to makeover-ing: http://www.ugallery.com/giveaway.aspx

We’ve partnered with the amazing Crane & Canopy to bring a lucky winner a $500 Bedroom Makeover. The winner will receive $250 to Crane & Canopy and $250 to UGallery. Enter for a chance to win here: http://www.ugallery.com/giveaway.aspx

UGallery releases new art and welcomes new artists to our community every week. We love seeing what each new week will bring. This week’s newest artist are Amna Mehmood, Mike Kaplan, Tricia May and Karen Darling! Read on below to learn a little bit more about her work.

Amna Mehmood. San Jose, California.

Amna Mehmood creates stories of fictional characters living in fictional worlds. Her photographs tell tales that go beyond the models and the settings she shoots. Amna hopes to create secret worlds and stories for people to enjoy. She says, “one can just sit, staring at a photograph, lost in the worlds that exist inside it.

Mike Kaplan. Sedgefield, Western Cape.

Mike Kaplan developed his eye for landscapes while studying graphic design in London. His fascination with William Turner’s ability to capture the movement of water motivated him to take his design eye to rivers and oceans with a camera in hand. By snapping long-exposure shots at sunrise and sunset, Mike Kaplan develops his own mastery of the flowing quality of a seascape.

Tricia May. Boise, Idaho.

Tricia May looks to the philosophy of yin and yang to drive her balanced compositions. With Mother Nature as a guiding force for her art, Tricia takes oil to canvas to depict the play of warm and cool colors found in landscapes, flowers, and the sky. Tricia May founded the Plein Air Painters of Idaho and is a member of Oil Painters of America.

Karen Darling. Brampton, Canada

Trained as an illustrator, Karen Darling has learned to capture the human form in all its essence. Her female forms seem to dance across the canvas. Despite a love for abstractions, Karen keeps enough of her understanding of the body to develop a clear and stylistic approach to the figure.

If you’re loving these artists, let them know by leaving a comment on their UGallery profile page. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

After a run of wedding pinners, we’re excited to invite an expert interior designer as UGallery’s next guest pinner. Tina Ramchandani of Life in Sketch reminds us that making our homes beautiful is equally as important as making our weddings memorable. Tina will be hopping on board to pin an array of sketches on UGallery’s “Be Art Guest” board. In true Life in Sketch fashion, Tina will deliver the most beautiful designs that she comes across on her day-to-day. So if you need a little inspiration to make your home just a smidge more artful, look no further. Tina will give you just what you need.

UGallery releases new art and welcomes new artists to our community every week. We love seeing what each new week will bring. This week’s newest artist are Julie Goulding and Luca Spano! Read on below to learn a little bit more about her work.

Julie Goulding. Toronto, Canada.

Similar to David Hockney, Julie Goulding explores the geometry of mundane life to deliver spatial paintings edged with surrealism. Her art is grounded in naturalism, but features elements of abstractions that lend to its overall classicism. Each canvas invites the viewer to embark on a journey assessing the beauty of man. Julie studied art with Clive Head in England at York University and exhibited work in London and New York.

Luca Spano. Cagliari, Italy.

Luca Spano views landscape as a “series of overlapping links of personal and cultural aspects.” Each of his photographs are layered with the richness of our collective consciousness. By tapping into the cultural imagination of his environment, Luca Spano captures spontaneous moments in a minimal fashion.

If you’re loving these artists, let them know by leaving a comment on their UGallery profile page. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.