Throughout his successful, 30-plus-year career in broadcasting, W.E. Pugh never lost his love of art. All the time he was running those radio stations, he continued to experiment in various media, including watercolor, oil, screen printing, acrylic and sculpture. His work has sold privately to collectors across the country.

In 2004, Pugh committed full time to painting. As a child — under his grandmother’s influence — he took art classes at the Zanesville Art Institute in his Ohio hometown, which set the stage for his dream of be coming an artist. Pugh entered formal art training at Defiance College in 1972 and a year later was accepted to the Central Academy of Commercial Design. He transferred to the University of Dayton and majored in Performing and Visual Arts.

At Dayton, he discovered radio. Starting as an on-air DJ for the campus radio station WVUD, Pugh quickly became a sought-out national talent and was soon hired full-time in Columbus, Ohio. Over the course of his broadcasting career, Pugh evolved from an on-air talent to a program director and leader in America’s largest radio markets.

Now, however, Pugh has left radio to live full-time in the world of art. His focus has been abstract compositions in acrylics, but he continues to experiment, grow and evolve, both as an artist and human being. Pugh lives in Georgia with his wife, Laura.

— Joel Selvin

Artist’s statement

Abstraction is my foundation and everything else is building blocks.

Texture, depth and color — in the painting or print — is propulsive and always aware of where it’s heading. You can trade out the formal elements with each other because pattern and line may be the strongest components that present themselves or it may be shape and tone that stand out as dominant.

The brush stroke and the mark continue to evolve. completing a stronger relationship. The interplay between the background colors used and the foreground mark making creates a visually dynamic and complex piece, inviting viewers to explore the subtle details and variations within and outside the work.

— W.E. Pugh