Going to the dogs

The other day I was browsing the expensive but beautiful website, A Well Appointed House, and pretend decorating my dream house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. (It is getting bigger and more expensive every day, I swear.)

I bought this (in my head):

And I mentally hung this above the stone fireplace in my study:

Reproduction of George Earl's After the Ride

Available from A Well Appointed House

It's a reproduction of 19th century British painter George Earl's After the Ride. Even in my dream house I don't think I could afford the real thing, which was recently offered for sale by the very unique William Second Gallery in New York City. They specialize in dog paintings of the 18th and 19th century and literally wrote the book on dogs in art. They also have some of the coziest gallery walls I've ever seen, the Basset Hound and I could totally curl up for a nap in there.

I like After the Ride for a couple reasons. First, it is unique because it is a deviation from the artist's preferred subject. Earl was known for painting sporting dogs (pointers & spaniels) and clearly, the big, sleepy english mastiff above isn't up for running around the moors chasing pheasants all day. Second, I love the look on the dog's face. He's annoyed, bored, and perhaps feeling a little left out. I know this look well.

Meet Lucy:

Lucy is my parents' dog. She pretty much looks like George Earl's painting all of the time.

Of course, I'll have to have one of these footstools too:

It looks awfully familiar...