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Editor's note:KSL.com does a weekly feature on artists in the community. If you have a painter, sculptor, musician or creative genius in mind, feel free to email your submission to atreasure@ksl.com. Please include a contact email for the artist, if available.SALT LAKE CITY — Jeffery R. Pugh is constantly exploring and depicting landscapes and nostalgic scenes. But in many of his paintings, you can also get into the artist’s brain, just a little bit, if you know what you’re looking for.
“I no longer ignore the beauty of the landscape," he wrote of his work. “It isn’t just dirt and trees and sky. It is a compound of colors and values and shapes. As I continue to paint, I realize that I am just beginning to scratch this surface. It has intrigued me and so I continue to paint in hopes to discover even more.”
Pugh began painting as an elementary school-aged child alongside his grandmother in her home. She taught him to use watercolors and later, as a student at Cottonwood High School, Pugh began taking art seriously as an educational pursuit. He went on to earn a degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of Utah in 2004.
Now, living in Millcreek with his wife Julia and their three children, Pugh paints full time. At first glance, his landscapes are charming for their pastoral scenes, rich in texture and color, and a modern take on the familiar. But when viewed as a collection, themes begin emerging and the viewer can see there’s more to the story. Often, he paints his family into the scene symbolically.
“I enjoy painting almost everything, but I’ve found that I enjoy the symbolism in the landscape. I tend to see the landscape differently now than I did when I first started painting,” he said. “I used to look at it and try to replicate exactly what I saw; now I am looking at it as a means of expressing symbolic meaning in my life. For example, a barn becomes a symbol for our home, five trees become a symbol of myself, my wife and three kiddos — everything has a meaning behind it.”
When viewed through this lens, his scenes become an intimate portrait of his love for family and home life.
Painting full time — or just over full time — since 2008, Pugh works mostly in oils with a palette knife. He works in a Millcreek studio, starting between three and five paintings a week. He chose his medium because it allows him to move the paint around a little slower than quick-drying acrylic. It’s also what gives his paintings their light-catching texture.
Pugh is a pretty straight shooter, though. When asked about favorite moments that have come about because of his art, he simply responded, “I am able to pay my bills and buy more art supplies.”
But his goal with his art?
“I’ve got a few. One is to create something that resonates beyond just me,” he said. “If my work speaks to a larger audience then I feel like it is a success. I also want to project what is happening in my life into my work. With any luck, someone seeing my work will feel a kinship to it.”
See his art at David Ericson Fine Art in Salt Lake City, Evergreen Framing Company and Gallery, Meyer Gallery in Park City, Authentique Gallery in St. George, and at Springville Art Museum until May 14 as part of its “Here, There, and Everywhere” exhibit.
