Murphy in art

There is the famous Andrew Wyeth painting of a Yellow lab sleeping on a bed.  At my favorite restaurant in Seattle, the Santa Fe Cafe, the chef and owner also paints wonderful works with his Yellow lab conspicuously present in each piece.  And there is my friend Carol, working on her water colors.  She has done several pieces with Murphy, including, recently, this one, an homage to Winslow Homer.

The thing about labs is they probably are totally oblivious to their place in the art world.  Unlike the studied photographs of William Wegman and his Weimeraners, labs simply don't pose or care about being in the art world.  You won't see them in some gallery opening, carefully sipping their Cabernets while commenting astutely on the sculpture.  You might, however, see them trying to clean off the cheese plate before anyone notices, or perhaps, if it is a male lab, circling the base of the sculptures with a little leg lifting in mind!  Labs are about as unpretentious as any dog.

Having Murph memorialized in paintings or photos, though, is nice for me.  While the event in Carol's watercolor never really happened, Murphy and I certainly have had our share of adventures on rivers, with me on one side fishing, and her on the other, supervising.  Everyday, when I look at this wonderful gift, all the memories of the North Fork of the Flathead, the Gallatin, Yellowstone, Yakima, Hat Creek, Truckee, McCloud, Big Wood, Lochsa, St. Joes, Greys, Snake, Icicle Creek, and many others, will be there for me.  Always with me, yipping at my catch, staring at me, waiting for me to finish so we can get on to the important things, like ball throw.  Murphy is alive in this painting.

Murphy's day.