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.

Every Thursday, we welcome a batch of new artists and artwork to UGallery. This series of blog posts highlights each week’s new artists. 



Our new artist this week is Mark Yaggie. Read on below to learn more about him. Leave a nice comment on his profile page to welcome him to UGallery!

Mark Yaggie. Portland, Maine.

Mark Yaggie is more than just a lucky photographer. Even though he’d say, “90% of good photography is sheer luck,” his portfolio begs to differ. Mark has a knack for catching serendipitous, suburban sights with the snap of his camera. From flourishing cacti to the decay of a tired business, Mark’s subjects are sure to comment on man and his affect on the environment.

Every Thursday, we welcome a batch of new artists and artwork to UGallery. This series of blog posts highlights each week’s new artists. The two this week follow their passions, which is the key to good art.  

Our new artists are Emilia Arana and Cristina Sciarra. Read on below to learn more about each of them. Leave them a nice comment on their profile pages to welcome them to UGallery!

Emilia Arana. Tucson, Arizona

Things that Fill the Earth

Emilia Arana delivers refreshing work to the landscape of abstract art. Swelling from scrapes of dark purple and green, Emilia’s emotions build into the thick clouds of color suspended on the canvas. Emilia takes elements from her challenges, doubts, and accomplishments to create omnipresent and intuitive pieces that promise relief from arid abstractions.

Cristina Sciarra. Brooklyn, NY

Sifted Cake Flour

Sprinkle a pinch of color. Add a dash of composition. Mix until fully combined and you have a Cristina Sciarra photograph. With the right amount of light and texture, Cristina captures the essence of her current passion: creating and cooking recipes. Feast your eyes on food photography that tells the perfect tale of preparation and artistic prowess with a still life from Cristina smorgasbord of wholesome photo shoots.

Every Thursday, we welcome a batch of new artists and artwork to UGallery. This blog series highlights our newest artists. The three this week make up a holy trinity of simplicity.

Give a nice “Hello” to Reuben Chircop, Lynn Pollard, and Will Russack. Below is a little bit about their work. If you like what you see, let them know by leaving a comment on their profile pages and welcoming them to UGallery!

Reuben Chircop. Balzan, Malta

Reuben Chircop delivers deeply emotional messages with the click of a camera. His photography explores a range of emotions through a range of subject matters. In search of simplicity, Reuben captures spontaneous moments as quickly as his camera shutter can shut. He hopes his simple compositions will inspire serenity within his viewers.

Lynn Pollard. Atlanta, Georgia

Lynn Pollard is grateful for indigo. She says, “Indigo is too mysterious and headstrong and spiritual to allow for complete control.” Despite indigo’s stubbornness, Lynn has been able to manipulate this ancient dye into compelling and powerful compositions. She seeks serenity with her subtle layers of deep blue. Since her chosen medium runs heavy with symbolism, Lynn is able to paint truly powerful and royal abstractions. 

Will Russack. Somerville, Massachusetts

Take a moment. If Will Russack’s photographs cause you to pause, he has succeeded. Will believes the moments we sit with ourselves to ponder the mundane are the moments we learn the most about ourselves. His photographs make the familiar unfamiliar. As he progresses as an artist, Will continues to turn a simple glance of our surroundings into a long and thoughtful stare.

We’re obsessed with Valerie Chiang and we are not afraid to admit it. Judging by how often her photos fly out of our printers, we aren’t the only ones in love. There are big things coming Valerie’s way. She will be showing four photographs in Barcelona this July. The timing is perfect to have her as this week’s artist in focus. Learn about her process, her photographs, and her tastes below.

What made you start photography?

I know I’ve answered this question so many times, but I still can’t find the right answer. I really don’t know why. I sort of just fell into it, I guess. I posted some of my travel photos on Flickr a few years ago, and started to browse people’s photostreams and became very inspired by their art. I decided to try it out myself, and loved it.

What is one word to describe your art?

Melancholic.

Your photographs feel so natural! How do you prepare your shots? Who are the models in your photographs?

Thank you! I try very hard to create a feeling of happenstance in my photos, but it actually takes a bit of effort!  I sometimes also hold my camera up and pretend I’m taking photos, but really I’ll just be waiting for them to relax. Pretty soon he or she starts to get antsy and move around so their poses will naturally loosen up. That’s when I get the best photos! I find models through modelmayhem.com mostly. I’ve also used my friends, agency models, and myself!

What piece on UGallery (that isn’t yours) would you want to own? Is there a particular artist you keep an eye on?

From the Train, 2 by Kate Gendreau. If Edward Hopper lived in this day and age and had access to a camera, he would take something like this! I love it. Or Into the Misty by Barry Close. I’m a sucker for anything water/ocean/boat related. I would keep an eye on my friend Noel. Her photographs are wonderfully emotive. We actually collaborated on two pieces that she has on UGallery right now, Still and Look. 

Whoa. THAT’S A DUO! 

You have such an interesting perspective, who do you look up to for inspiration?

I love the works of Wendy Bevan, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, Tim Walker, and the amazing photographers on Flickr. I love cinema, and am a huge fan of Nestor Almendros, a famous cinematographer who worked with directors like Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer. Various fine artists inspire me as well - Rene Magritte especially.

You’re going to Barcelona this July! Can you tell us about this exhibit? What pieces will you be showing?

Ahh, I actually cannot make it to the exhibition! I really wish I could go though. I’ll be exhibiting in Casa Battló, a building restored by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí in the early 1900s, along with many other artists from over 40 countries around the world. It’s organized by Global Art Agency. I’m exhibiting At the Art Museum, Winter Song, Bicycle on Beach, and India Dolls. (shown above starting clockwise from the top left)

Your dreamscapes are so imaginative. For fun, what’s your favorite imaginary/mythical animal?

I’d have to say the dragon! Or anything C.S. Lewis dreamed up.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Kiwi Orange Creamsicles from Desserts for Breakfast is one of my favorite summer recipes. It’s AMAZING!

I’m swooning. Valerie, thank you so much for sharing your favorites with us! We hope your photographs make as strong of an impression in Barcelona as they have with us.

Marc Sirinsky brings a softer edge to the UGallery photography collection. His vintage shots are instantly recognizable and nostalgic. He adds a sense of confidence and comfort into his scenes through a retro photography process.

Locked away in the UGallery vault is an awesome video of Marc Sirinsky working in his home studio. As much as we’d love to share it, we don’t feel like now is the correct time to show Marc in all his glory. As a bit of a teaser, I transcribed the juiciest bits of his photograph advice for you to enjoy. Marc explains his process, his camera, and his artwork below.

Marc Sirinsky creates his work with a Carlton camera. It’s a camera that was made in the US during the late 1920’s/early 1930’s. Marc makes sophisticated photos despite its elementary settings. It has an instant setting which allows for a fixed shutter speed of about a hundredth of a second. It also has a time setting, so you can leave the shutter open as long as desired. The inside has a hollow back for 127 film. Even though this film is no longer made, Marc figured out how to use common 35 mm film with it. Due to the camera’s construction and the adjustments he’s made to it, no two photographs are the same. After Marc finishes the preliminary analog steps of his photography, each photograph is scanned and placed into the computer to undergo more modern adjustments.

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Every Thursday, we welcome a batch of new artists and artwork to UGallery. This series of blog posts highlights each week’s new artists. The four this week run the gamut from scary guns to pretty landscapes.  

Our new artists are Ignacia Biskupovic, Janet Dyer, Rob Hooper, and Marshall Jones. Read on below to learn more about each of them. Leave them a nice comment on their profile pages to welcome them to UGallery!

Ignacia Biskupovic. Santiago, Chile

Ignacia is a photographer and a flaneur. According to Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, a flaneur is a wanderer who travels in a contemplative and reflexive state. Her photographs document a journey from start to finish. No matter where her travels take her, Ignacia is determined to capture spontaneous moments to embolden the traveler inside each and every one of us.

Janet Dyer. Suffern, New York

Janet Dyer’s paintings grow from the post-impressionist traditions of Paul Cezanne. Her bucolic renderings border the slightly abstract and the intensely real. The ease with which she plays with horizon lines is indicative of a truly great landscape painter. In her paintings, the foreground and background playfully add power to each other for an overall breathtaking composition. 

Rob Hooper. Ferndale, Washington

Rob Hooper’s paintings have been described as an intense kaleidoscope of color and emotion. A sense of urgency emanates from the canvas and his perfected layering of color. Perhaps this energy is founded in Rob’s necessity to paint. Rob says, “I have an emotional need to paint and express myself. It calms me and exhilarates me at the same time.”

Marshall Jones. Guttenberg, New Jersey

For Marshall Jones, women wielding guns is far from a cop out. He takes inspiration straight from the streets for raw portraits of urban females. Each painting is a clean depiction of the ruggedness of modern American life. The feminine figures juxtaposed with iconic street symbolism makes for a powerful dichotomy. Whether or not his subject is wielding an AK-47, Marshall’s paintings mean business. 

Greetings Art Lovers,

Going “Against the Grain” can be enlightening. Take it from photographer Noel Michele.

Noel Michele occasionally puts down her camera and picks up colored pencils. During one of these sabbaticals, the camera didn’t stay down long. This week’s Paperwork print is the result of a photographer exploring another artistic medium, only to return to the camera. As she was doodling with good ole charcoal and colored pencils, Noel noticed the colorful shavings on her tin lid. She couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the scattered pencil shards.

“Against the Grain” sharpens Noel’s artistic mission. With each photograph, Noel attempts to capture the unknown and the neglected. Since the age of 6, Noel has used the camera to find idyllic moments in life as a means to surprise and delight those around her. Now, Noel continues to shed light on any moment that goes unnoticed. 

What areas of your life have you forgotten? If you need a nudge to explore new avenues of expression, let Noel Michele’s print, “Against the Grain,” be the perfect reminder. 

Artfully yours,

Kurt 

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