When our first dog, a large Great Pyrenees named Charly, passed away last year, we received a beautiful (and crazy accurate!) watercolor portrait of her from talented artist, Jamie Clark. After we adopted Willow, we added her portrait to our collection. I actually CRIED when I opened it and saw the paintings side by side, because if you read Willow's adoption story (read that here), you know that we feel like she was a gift for our family from Charly.
Jamie not only captured their looks, but also personalities, too. I love them. I popped each 8x10 into these $10 gold frames from Target.
Taking a note from our friends, Kim and Scott, I decided to hang both above Willow's feeding station (see how we DIYed that in this post!) that hangs in the laundry/mudroom.
Isn't it just the most perfect spot for them? I love seeing the frames peeking around the corner from the dining room/living room/kitchen.
Lastly, we've had a few people questioning why they don't see Willow as much in photos--it's simple really--she's usually running sprints in the backyard and hanging out in the snow (her favorite). She's a lot more active than Charly ever was, and a little camera shy, too. But the energy is a welcomed one in our home. She's amazing with our girls and all of their friends. She saved our family and does so over again, every day.
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I love the portraits and that is the perfect place to put them. Your posts about Charly and Willow have left me longing for another big dog. I had a golden and a shepherd/malamute mix, then all small dogs. We are dogless right now and it is killing me. Someday I WILL have another dog and I am hoping it will be a big one.
This is about the height that I put up art for my 10 month old baby to look at! I have a spot in the living room and a spot in the playroom where I have hung a few paintings and photographs in plastic frames. She loves looking at them and pointing and trying to get them off the wall!
What beautiful portraits. I’ve loved reading about your sweet dogs.
I would love if you shared your ways on dealing with shedding and pet hair in a beautiful home.
What a lovely post. You made my day so thank you.
The paintings are beautiful! What a special tribute to them both!
Cute! Our dog is such a dork he would just bark at the "other dogs" if he could see them like that. We can't even watch videos with dogs in them on our computers when he's looking.
You have to stop linking to the Willow story, every time I read "They planned the whole thing together" I tear up!
Cue the tears. The portraits are the sweetest. This really makes me want to get ones of our dogs.
I love hearing about Willow and am so happy she joined your family! I have pet portraits hanging in my living room(https://www.instagram.com/p/BIpiD_djQA1/?taken-by=michellekowalski), but definitely want to find a spot for a feeding station for my cat + dog. I'm about to get my pets faces tattooed on my arms, so I'm pretty sure there is no limit to the number of pet portraits I can fill my house with!
Hahaha! I love that!
"She saved our family" = bawling. Dogs are the most beautiful angels are they not? Love the tribute to both Willow and Charly in the beautiful pictures.
This is off topic, but just wanted to post this where you might see it. I'd love to see a post sometime about how to cohesively use multiple woodtones in a home. Example, your woodtone floors, your dining table and your entry credenza... what's the trick to doing it well? I hope that makes sense, I'd love to hear your take on this!
Beautiful! Do you find that they get water or food in them? I REALLY want to do this but I’m afraid my drooly lab will just destroy them while she eats...
This post makes me tear up! Our beloved Alaskan Malamute passed away suddenly almost a year ago, similarly to Charly, and we're finally ready to get another dog soon. I had been wanting to find a way to honor Jeter's memory and celebrate our new puppy at the same time and I think this would be the perfect solution. Thanks so much for sharing!!
So sweet! We're adding a Bernedoodle puppy to our family this weekend and incorporating her feeding station has kicked off a medium-sized kitchen reno. This is great inspiration!
I love pet portraits. In my home they take pride of place along with family photos, some being of the whole family, dog included!