Trawling for Treasures

Excerpted from Trawling for Treasures: Dowtown Falmouth's Art Scene Inspires & Excites by Theresa Pease, Simply Falmouth Magazine.

"At the spot where Route 28 turns sharply toward the Village Green stands the Queens Buway, a vintage shopping area where a faux lighthouse beckons buyers and browsers into Falmouth's business district. Once a Filene's store, the flagship building at 114 Palmer Avenue has since 2008 been home to the Osborn & Rugh Gallery. Its walls of more than 200 windows shed light on a collection of paintings hung layers-deep, poised to emphasize the beauty, volume and variety of works created by husband and wife artists Doug Rugh and Hillary Osborn."

"First to catch the eye are scores of Cape Cod views the pair have captured on location: summery beach scenes, tranquil harbors, vibrant renditions of blossoming plant life. Next to claim attention are still lifes rendered in a stately classical realism. Figurative paintings of models and neighbors coexist with pieces commissioned by clients seeking to crown their mantels with favorite vistas or family likenesses. Some of those personal images are modern and casual, while others show formally dressee children in settings worthy of a John Singer Sargent family portrait."

"Bright spacious and accessible, the gallery also serves as a working studio where patrons come to witness the creative process, seek advice on collecting, and collaborate on ideas for commissioned work. Osborn & Rugh deals exclusively in the two artists' own one-of-a-kind oil paintings--no reproductions here. For the entry-livel collector, the couple offers small-scale paintings that begin at $500; most mid-sized oils sell in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, while the cost of a large commissioned portrait may to $20,000."

"Despite long roots in the Falmouth area--Mr. Rugh's grandfathers were Marine Biological Laboratory sientists, and Ms. Osborn descends from whalers from Martha's Vineyard--the two fledged their artistic wings elsewhere. The huysband, raised in a diplomatic corps family in the Middle East, attended Maryland Instititue College of Art before earning a bachelelor of fine arts degree at Rhode Island School of Design, while his spouse, reared in Franklin, holds a master of fine arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and attended the New York Studio School. Both are members of the distinguished Copley Society of Boston, where Mr. Rugh attained the top rank of Copley Master."

"Surveying the dazzling inventory at hand, Ms. Osborn explained, "We did not start out like this. What you see here is our life's work."

Added Mr. Rugh, "We just keep painting. If a work is good, the right person will eventually come in and buy it."