May 26, 2016

Spring Newsletter 2016


2016 Spring Newsletter
An artistic appreciation of Cape Cod.

C O N T E N T S

HOURS
NEWS
IN REAL LIFE
IN MEMORIUM: KEN WAKEEM

SAMPLING FROM THE EASEL


WDDDING REGISTRY
EBOOK
COLLECTOR'S DISCOUNT
EASY LAYAWAY PLAN
LANDSCAPE and PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS
WEDDING REGISTRY
MILESTONE PORTRAITS
MASTER COPIES
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
QUICK LINKS
SURVEY: "A few minutes of your life lost forever."

H O U R S
10 – 5 Closed Tuesdays (or by chance)
Other times visit by appointment.


NEWS


AWARD
Hillary Osborn won Best Nocturne, for "Twilight on Mill Pond, Plein Air Salon Magazine, May 2016 (page 104-105).

DEMO
Hillary Osborn will do a landscape painting demonstration on the Falmouth Public Library Green during Arts Alive on Saturday June 18th at 10 AM.
AUCTION
This painting by Doug Rugh will be available at the Cape Cod Museum of Art Live Auction on August 20th.

EXHIBITION
Hillary Osborn and Doug Rugh will exhibit paintings in the "September Invitational" at the Creative Arts Center, Chatham - Sept. 2 - Oct. 3.

LESSONS
Outdoor Landscape Painting with Hillary Osborn
Hillary gives private and semi-private lessons. Please contact her to sign up. More Info
Scroll Down to See Oil Paintings
Painting together at Mud Cove circa 2000 B.C. (before children)
In Real Life
I had heard that the late, and eccentric artist, Edward Gorey was a regular at Jack's Outback restaurant in Yarmouth so we found ourselves at a table one morning for breakfast. This was when Jack was still the proprietor and when I asked for a reccomendation he told me that my best option would be to go down the street and get an ice cream cone. I quickly learned that he wasn't joking but I could still see why the regulars kept returning. Never mind that you had to write your own order slip and clean your own table or that the food was better at home. It's refreshing to find genuine people IRL (in real life).
I'm reminded of that time with Jack when I meet people who say they want to come visit me in the studio. I say, "Hillary will be in Monday, Thursday or Saturday" because they'll probably get more out of being with her. She takes people on a tour around the gallery and they often leave inspired. One man got so light-headed he said, "I just have to give you a kiss". Which is okay, I guess (while I remain without proposals). She loves art and what we do and it rubs off if you spend a little time walking around the studio with her. I do too. It's just hard to get the words out sometimes when you catch me with brush in hand in the middle of a right-brain fog.
I have a theory that artists who have their own galleries stay in business longer. It isn't hard to persevere at a fine art career with a steady stream of visitors who appreciate what you do. It reminds us of the value of it all and we need that. Artists who don't have open studios miss out on connecting with their audience. One day a guy walked in our gallery and stopped and said, "You're a genius, aren't you?" My addled brain in picture-mode didn't have an answer to that so I just went back to swirling a little bit of one muddy color with a little of another (kindergarten skills have really paid off) and he took a few more steps around the gallery and then stopped and said, "You are a genius, aren't you." But any artist, no matter what anyone says, only feels good about what they're doing when they're seeing their own paint come to life under the brush. That happens daily, and we're thankful for that, and we're glad when you also find little moments in our work.
So, I would be glad to talk art with you but if you have friends visiting or missed it yourself last time, bring them in to see my favorite local artist and ask for the full tour.
-Doug Rugh


IN MEMORIUM
"Ken Wakeem painting on Old Dock Road, West Falmouth", oil/panel, 12" x 9", 2012, "Painted before I met Ken for the first time." -Rugh
Ken Wakeem
1928-2016
We discovered that our artist friend, Ken Wakeem, left us over the winter at age 87. My last image of him was this past summer when Ken was painting from the model with our small group of artists out in the strong afternoon wind at Nobska Beach. He had on his pristine dress pants and shoes (we were barefoot) and a yellow dress shirt and pink paint on his nose (or was it a pink shirt with yellow paint on the nose?). He had his jury-rigged easel staked down against the wind and the plastic bag for his rags was flapping up a racket as he kept reaching down to pick up his sand-covered paint tubes. He said something about fixing his set up to work better in the wind but he was happy to be there painting with us and we were happy to have him.
-Doug Rugh


Sampling From the Easel
"Collection", 11" x 14", o/c, Rugh

"This painting catches my eye every time I come into the gallery, It reminds me of the ocean even if I don't pass by the water for several weeks." -Osborn

"These objects were painted oversize with a classical appreciation of perfect and simple natural light and are meant for an eye with time to wander." -Rugh

"Lawrence", 11x14, o/c, Osborn

"I love colorful thick paint on a flat surface. The paint isn't shy, it comes right up at you" -Osborn

"You get a richness with the pallette knife and oils that you don't with any other medium." -Rugh
"Little Things", 8” x 6”, oil/panel, Rugh
"As an artist I look for beauty in the ordinary and I could spend a lifetime painting these simple things that I find on the beach. It's how they're observed that make them interesting. There are endless possibilities with composition and light, and a chance to illuminate shiny or transparent surfaces and see how color bounces around the surroundings. It's a light show if you look carefully." -Rugh

"Bend in the Bog", 10" x 20", o/c, Osborn

"I have been living on the Upper Cape since 1995 and finally wandered onto this bog last fall. It was a tapestry of texture and autumn colors." -Osborn

"We see a lot of paintings that represent what we think the Cape should be but this one has captured what it really is." -Rugh
"Hydrangeas, in and Out", 12x9, o/c, Rugh

"Reflected sunlight warms the wall as this little bouquet, like an indoor cat, looks out on the bigger hydrangeas." -Rugh

"Folding Yellow", 30 x 30", o/canvas, Osborn
"By working the composition on a square canvas I can play off equal sides. It's a departure from the traditional format."-Osborn

"Design is everything and here the lean into the corner is nicely balanced by the yellow cloth in the foreground. A painting is better with all its handmade imperfections if the artist knows when they are in support of the compositional idea and when they need to be corrected." -Rugh

 
“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” ~Paul Cezanne

"Gansett Afternoon", 24" x 30", o/c, Osborn

"This was a very tranquil time in the late afternoon. There was very little sound on the shoreline and not much activity on the water, only the occasional hum of the crickets and a gentle warm breeze." -Osborn


"Private Beach, Stoney", 12x18", o/c, Rugh

"The stone sea wall shoots you into the distant space. It makes me want to claim a seat right on top and look out onto the ocean"- Osborn

"Pink Lemon and Lime", 16" x 20", o/c, Osborn

"This painting looks like it was painted by someone from another country: it's a painting with a French accent." - Rugh


"Bog", 11x 14", o/canvas, Osborn

"The cranberry bog on Thom Landers road is a perfect place to paint. You can pull your car off the road and set right up. Pack a lunch and you are good to go all day."

"Corner, Quissett Harbor", 18" x 12", o/canvas, Rugh

"I like the challenge of a vertical landscape. Here Doug pulls you in and up with the shoreline sweep and the cluster of rocks." -Osborn
"Low Tide, Dark Skies", 30" x 40", o/c, Osborn

"Large paintings need to grab you from a distance and then offer up details once you're pulled in. When you get closer you find the wildflowers in the foreground. The violet pops on our new yellow wall." -Rugh

"Squeteegue Harbor Sand Bar", 12" x 24", o/c, Rugh

A true Cape Cod misty day. The fog rolls in and gives a spectrum of blues, violets, and gray-greens." -Osborn


"Morning at Menauhant", 8" x 14", o/c, Osborn

"Quite a few people stopped to say hello the morning that I painted this picture. The conversations and sunshine made for a pleasant day." -Osborn

"Menauhant's motif #1 and a bridge that goes to all that trouble to make room for a skiff to go underneath." -Rugh
"Reflection, West Falmouth", 16x20", o/canvas, Rugh

"This reminds me of how lush the green marsh , the dunes, and the blue water become in the summertime."- Osborn

"All for the moon in 'her dimities of blue'."- Rugh

"Canvas Bag", 5" x 7", o/panel, Rugh

"Doug's paintings often start the viewer on some event that has taken place or one that is about to happen." -Osborn

"I'm at the office when I'm at the beach and it's where I do these little panel paintings. I was pleased with this one because it sums up the feeling of arriving at the beach for the summer." -Rugh


“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A. A. Milne
"Land and Sky", 18" x 30", o/canvas, Osborn

"I was lucky to have my paint box in the car when I did a little study for this painting. The sky was changing faster than I could blink but the light on the dunes was captivating." -Osborn

"A striking painting." -Rugh
"Eyeing Each Other", 7" x 5", o/panel, Rugh

"I set up to paint across from Lawrence Island and this seagull popped up a few feet away and watched me the whole time. It reminds me of the time, long ago, when a friend's grandmother told me, 'I'm keeping my good eye on you'". -Rugh

"Pocketful from the Beach", 6" x 8", o/panel, Rugh

"As soon as I saw this painting my mood was elevated." -Osborn

"You drop some things on a cloth but then you have to adjust them to make them look properly random." -Rugh

"Small Red Vase", 8"x10", o/p, Osborn

"One of my favorite paintings from my left handed series." -Osborn

"Oil is really responsive. You get these great lost edges and color shifts. Transparency, however, is all tricks." -Rugh
"Afternoon, Nobska Beach", 10" x 20", o/c, Rugh

"People speed their way through the highways so they can get here and just sit." -Rugh

"Green Jar", 5" x 7", o/p, Osborn

"Eye candy - nom nom nom." -Rugh

"Three Mussel Shells", 5" x 7", o/panel, Rugh

"So delicate and thoughtful. Even the shell has a chip in it." -Osborn

"Sometimes the impetus is just that you like the looks of two things together and then you go for a little cha-cha-cha." -Rugh

"Lawrence", 20x24, o/canvas, Osborn

"This painting developed from my small abstract works on paper" -Osborn

"It's easier to get a strong composition with a small study. The trick is to retain that strength in a larger work." -Rugh
"The Light at Nobska", 16" x 20", o/c, Rugh

"Lighthouses have such a great arrangements of shapes that cut into the sky. I can see why Hopper did a whole series of them." -Rugh

"Lanterns in Gin", 16" x 20", o/canvas, Osborn

"We have a shelf by the window in the studio where I put different objects down and then wait. At about 3 o'clock the sun comes beaming through and lights it all." -Osborn

"Everybody likes a painting for a different reason. For me it's this little reflective ball as focal point." -Rugh


"Slipper Shells", 6" x 8", o/panel, Rugh

"Music and painting have a lot in common. Here I use the classical music device where you repeat a theme and the little differences in that theme make it interesting." -Rugh

"Eel Pond, Woods Hole", 10" x 20", o/canvas, Rugh

"The light in this painting feels exactly like it is at noontime." -Osborn

"This took a couple of years to do because after I first laid in the painting the bees swarmed up from the rock wall below and stopped me. The second summer it was fresh in my mind but by the third it had gone quiet." -Rugh
"Shadows of Chappy Beach", 10" x 20", o/canvas, Osborn

The sliver of water behind the dunes was a brilliant blue on the morning I painted this picture. There was little wind but a strong blanket of heat on my back from the sun .

"Nature's landscaping." -Rugh
"Picnic on Devil's Foot", 10" x 20", o/canvas, Rugh

"From this spot on Devil's Foot Island you can see the lighthouse on the next point over through the break in the trees." -Rugh


WEDDING REGISTRY
Simple to set up registry with sample web page. The wedding party can gift by purchasing partial or whole shares towards painting/commissions chosen by the bride and groom.

MILESTONE PORTRAITS
Anniversary, Graduation, Milestone Celebration, Birthday, Career Highlight, Memorial
For centuries oil paintings have been commissioned to celebrate important milestones in life. Family or friends participate in commissioning a portrait buy gifting shares. Possible subjects include: Memorial portrait done from a photograph, a favorite pet or pet memorial painting, still life painting of important objects, either artist paints a landscape of a favorite spot, a painting done from a favorite photo, or a painting of a home.

 EBOOK BY DOUG RUGH
“The Artist’s Conundrum: An Oil Painter’s Journal”
(94 Oil Illustrations, 34,200 Words)
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
COLLECTOR'S DISCOUNT
If you have an Osborn or Rugh painting in your collection you and your family are entitled to a 10% "collector's discount" on future purchases. Tell your friends to mention you and we will also give them the discount under your name.
EASY LAYAWAY PLAN
0% - $90 - 36 month

We have some visitors who return each year to the gallery who would like to own works but believe it is out of their reach. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to hang our paintings in their home and offer free shipping and a 10% discount for our collectors (who have one of our paintings in their collection or who buy 2 or more). We also offer a layaway plan with 0% interest and no finance charges with a $90 per month minimum and a 36 month maximum. It’s only the price of a dinner out or a utility bill a month which leads to owning a wall-sized work. We will custom tailor a plan to fit your needs. Please ask.
"Fondness for Books", 6" x 8", o/panel, Rugh

"This cat at Isaiah Thomas Books gets much attention. Like most of the pet portrait commissions I do, this was done from a photo." -Rugh
COMMISSIONS and CUSTOM ART
"We do a lot of commissions. It's a good way to get exactly what you want." -O & R
One of the benefits of being an artist run studio is that we can work directly with collectors to create paintings of subjects that are dear to them and we do a lot of those. We are often asked to do commissions of favorite landscapes or portraits and we also do pet portraits and copies of master paintings that are in the public domain. We would be glad to talk with you about what you envision a painting might be. All you need to do is pick a size and a subject and say "go". Landscape Commissions Portrait Commissions
"Master Copy of 'The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907' by John Singer Sargent, 20" x 16", o/canvas, Rugh

"The original is one of my favorite paintings done en plein air and the copy is a way to bring museum favorites into the home." -Rugh

No comments:

Post a Comment