“The challenge of this painting was placing a pair of black Labrador retrievers in such a dark area. The goal was to capture the glow of the fire, so, it was necessary for everything else in the composition to be rather muted. When you look into the shadows, you discover clues about your surroundings. The softness of the light enhances the coziness and character of the historic structure. I wanted to capture how walking into this room was like walking into a novel, an escape into another world.”