The road that seemed to be so long suddenly stops, and we find ourselves in Yurhnoukrainsk - the youngest town in Ukraine. Singed with heat and filled with winds, this tow is lost in the Black Sea-side steppe looks quite morden and somewhat unexpected. Just in the field there are scattered up-to-date resident blocks which in some distance are very much like the ones in new districts in Kiev. But as you come closer, you feel that these streets are more cosy and compact, somehow more friendly looking.

A small artist studio is distinctly filled with creative emanations that are pleasent to feel. An unhurried talk is floating in the room with windows looking into a young orchard coming down the hills to the restless waters of the Yuzhny Boug river. The owner of the studio, a painter Yuriy Nagoulko, is looking steady and talking moderately. A real Galichian (born in Rovno) duke. His distant forefathers probably had the same bearing, same features and manners... But who knows? Everything became so mixed up and much was lost in our present complicated life. There always have been something that forced and is still now forcing Yuriy to build cities, to plant orchards and to paint... Is it not the same blood of his noble forefathers? May be it is the very force that makes him do everything to live his life generously and widely like from a bird's-eye view where you would see fields, rivers and cities...

The summer heat in Yuzhnoukrainsk is special, uncom-parable and unexplainable. It is in a way matched with the emotions suddenly bursting from the canvases... In some time you would get used to it and then accept it. But understandin would come later, gradually. The background of the images and stories is full of history and reminiscences. The artist does not remember the time when he neither painted nor drew. Very deep in the memory his first drawings are left - impressions of his travels. Many albums were ruined in fire one time. Mother simply left a candle burning on the trunk where he kept his works... The artist does not regret, no, he just states the fact. For him everything is more clear and more difficult: you should not always re-observe the traces you have left behind you. And creation of any work of arts should not become the final goal. Creation is a way.

Yuriy Nagoulko paints by nights. He does not have any other time for it. Day is for vanities, problems and everything else that is business. The most fruitful seasons are autumns and springs as they are more settled and lonely. Then he may paint more than his usual four hours a day. His business colleagues know it. Wherever possible, they avoid disturbing, keep a warm eye on him. Some of them try to paint also. For Yuriy, painting "is what I am myself, what I was probably born for. It is not just leisure or hobby, most likely it is my inner profession". He had to find many ways in his life. Many different jobs brought him success. But painting has always been his dearest priority. Now this consciousness has become more vivid in spite of his business career. By the way, this integration of uncompatibles have happened very naturally. Yuriy Nagoulko is inguisitive, and his paintings, among other sources of inspiration, are evidently fed by his daily intercourse with people, observations and cofeelings. On the other hand, there is an absolute freedom in his career as an artist, without necessity to earn by painting. The paradox turned out to be a favour, offered the way to extend knowledge about the world. Moreover, perception of the world by ways and tools different from those of a shear artist, is welcomed by him. It in no ways digresses. On the contrary, it helps and enriches. And if it only would stand in the way, then he would choose painting, as it is the main treasure of his creative life.

The figurative painting of Yuriy Nagoulko is fleshy and saturated with colour and emotions. Large canvases are carefully thought over and delineated. They leave an impression of long and thorough work. He says it is not always so. Sometimes it happens all of a sudden, very fast and without breaks. As if you are running down from the hill. Fancy, could anybody stop it... It can only be painted guickly, you know. But images are being brought forth sometimes for years. The ideas and the images are transforming and refracting, focusing consciousness on an acute wish to splash out the new feeling onto a canvas. And if the try was not successful, then the picture would not be accepted. Well, may be rather good for an office interior... There is no alternative.

Yuriy Nagoulko is positiv in his belief that an artist is determined not only by his skill to paint. An artist starts his existence from the moment he reaches a very special inner mood, vision and thinking. "Art is the sense of life. Philosophy is the style of life. And if you do not give out yourself entirely, then there is nothing to talk about". Yes, Yuriy Nagoulko lives true to that. Neither less, nor more, All the rest is in his canvases.

His landscapes are a special delight for eyes. You unvol-untary return your look back to them and hold your breath, fascinated. So strong is their temperament - ardent, southern. The colouring is genuine Ukrainian, deep and unruly. The landscapes of Yuriy Nagoulko are like healing, good for meditation and contemplation. The philosophy of a landscape is absolutely transparent: " A man looks quitely at the world and this is very important". Frankly speaking, such concept has developed not very soon, moreover that the intrest for landscapes appeared only a few years ago. " At first I began to look. Before this my eyes were as if half-closed. And when they got opened, everything appeared more interesting than I used to think". Summer is a good time when you can afford a long stay outdoors and select the best point for an interesting view. A landscape is a balm for any soul. Its sense is true, its symbols are close to man thinking and transparent. At the same time, Yuriy Nagoulko's landscapes are sufficiently transformed and realized through his individual vision, his inner world. They are created little by little, step by step. They appear by themselves in the way ripe apples fall from the brunch...

Many books on Velaskuez, El Greco, Van Gog... They are the Teachers. My eyes go further and I see books by Leo Tolstoy, Stanislav Lemm. The artist says that literature used to absorb him not less than painting. He wrote some books.., There was enough time for many things. But by and by, only painting was left. As an only means to entirely express his inner self. As something that is stronger than everything else...Then suddenly, in one moment, the realization of his complicity with painting hasresolved all his doubts. And it was so deep as if this man could no more live without it.

Natalia Sucholit, Art Critic