John Pugh’s work has appeared in articles throughout the world including Time, Focus, Artweek, Art Business News, Rocky Mountain News, Southwest Art, L.A. Times, New York Times, Tokyo Mainichi, and San Francisco Examiner and San Jose Mercury along with several other international and domestic publications of equal caliper. Below we have a collection of the following articles or quotations for your perusal:

• Optical Delusions,  Cover story of Focus Magazine, UK-based International Science & Technology Magazine
• Fooling the Eye,  Cover story of Home Design section of the L.A. Times
• Can You Trompe This? ,  Paragraph on John Pugh and a photo of the mural "Valentines Day" appeared in TIME magazine
• Illusions of Grandeur,  Cover Story from Metro Magazine, San Jose
• Big as Life,  Chico Statements
• Review in Artweek
• A Living Illusion,  Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
• More to Mural than Meets the Eye,  Modesto Bee
• (Pugh) Paints Pretty Perfect Pictures that Mirror Reality,  Cover Story, Willow Glen Resident (newspaper)

Optical Delusions

"...The trick is to get the perepective and the proportions exactly right or the deception simply won't work..." (This article showcased John Pugh's murals as pre-eminent examples of Trompe L'oeil art in our time)  Article with photos of John Pugh's murals (pdf, 252K)

Fooling the Eye

"...People have tried to set drinks on a shelf that was an illusionary niche. Others have actually walked into what appeared to be a hallway, only to bump into the solid wall..." More...(pdf, 385K)

Can You Tompe This?

"PUBLIC CONFUSION
...John Pugh, a traditional trompe l'oeil artist who did this wall (the artist, like the bull, is part of the painting) near Palm Springs, Calif., says he's booked through 2003..." This article included an photograph of the mural "Valentines Day" at Twentynine Palms, California.

Illusions of Grandeur

"... IT IS PRECISELY this attention to detail, however minute and seemingly inconsequential, that has brought widespread attention to Pugh and his murals. Pugh is a master of illustion—the style of painting called trompe l'oeil which literally means "deceive the eye." ... " Cover of Metro for this article (pdf, 200K)

Big as Life

John Pugh's trompe l'oeil murals are so lifelike they cause mishaps and confusion for the unsuspecting. In 1981, after the completion of his first major project, the mural on Taylor Hall on the CSU, Chico campus, several fender benders occurred because motorists were distracted by what looks like a gaping hole in the building. At a café in San Jose, California, that features a Pugh mural, a customer complained he had received the "silent treatment" when he tried to introduce himself to a pretty woman reading a book. The woman was a painted illusion in Pugh's mural. More...(pdf, 153K)

Artweek Review

" ...Pugh's Root Series #1 and #2 depict the irrepressible force of nature breaking through the formal confines of human art and architecture. Two white trompe l'oiel alcoves skillfully painted are cracked and broken by roots and branches breaking through. The effect is both Gothic and funereal, as if some abandoned underground vault or temple has been invaded by a mordant but aggressive nature..." "... The human is temporal and tempered by nature. The classical forms of art and human architecture give way to the organic force of plastic nature ..." Root Series #1, Root Series #2

A Living Illusion

Yes, there's a women standing in front of that cherry tree, reaching up as if to snatch a handful of sweet blossoms. But don't try to talk to her: The figure who forms the centerpiece of a mural growing in the old portion of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is a figment of the imagination, to be precise. More...(pdf, 260K)

More to Mural than Meets the Eye

The granite boulders on the wall along K Street appear ready for a mountain climber to grab. The curving panels looks like it would be good place for a kid to sneak behind and hide. The entire section of "El Rio de la Mercedes" seems to jump out a the viewer in 3-D. "...Pugh's passion and intensity reflect in his art and his personality ..." More...(pdf, 290K)

Willow Glen resident paints pretty perfect pictures that mirror reality

Willow Glen resident John Pugh has carved out a niche for himself in the art world, a niche that's a natural for him, in a medium that combines architecture, craftsmanship and wit riding in tandem with fine art. He's a trompe l'oeil muralist, and has been refining the craftiness and craft in his art for the past 23 years. More...(pdf, 232K)