Author and artist Barbara Cohen received a two-week artist's residency to live and paint in a dune shack on Cape Cod's National Seashore. For more than 80 years. the rustic shoreside accommodations have renewed and invigorated the likes of e.e. cummings. Eugene O'Neill, and Mary Oliver, among other writers and artists, and Cohen was looking forward to a similar rejuvenation.Cohen intended to continue her work on a series of abstract paintings, but soon found new, unexpected inspiration in the antics of her 11-year-old black Labrador retriever, Gabe. I was compelled, the Provincetown, Massachusetts, resident writes, to photograph and paint Gabe, as he followed my every step ... What flowed, with help from the surprise muse, is a captivating sequence of restful mixed-media portraits that will appeal to dog lovers, Labrador aficionados, beach buffs, and those with a particular fondness for the grass-fringed beaches of the eastern shore.Gabe proves a convivial canine model for Cohen's camera and brush. alternatively highlighted as the subject of a piece, then resembling only a friendly force on a field trip through the dunes. The artist successfully captures the natural light and colors of Cape Cod's unique setting and reflects them in the warm turquoise-sky blues, sea-grass greens, and sand-pebble yellows that seep from her images.Dog in the Dunes is a rare collection that can be viewed as a trip diary of sorts, a focused series of fine-art images, a dog-owner's tribute to her aging but ever-faithful companion -- or a moving mix of all three. This book will capture the hearts and imaginations of a broad and appreciative audience.