It’s artists Olsen and Olsen at the Spotted Dog Gallery

CORNWALL — They take life as it comes. They let the joy of being immersed in creativity overshadow their struggles with ill health. Marilyn and Ed Olsen are keeping it real.Their Spotted Dog Gallery is part of their Cornwall Bridge home of seven years, a secluded log cabin (designed by their architect son) at the end of Applewood Lane. It was one of the stops on the recent open studio tour of artists’ workspaces held earlier this month.There’s a pond with a fountain. Marilyn Olsen said deer stop, as if posing, in front of the picture window above her worktable.Visitors are greeted by the barking of a dog — most recently it is a puppy named Molly, not the original spotted dog, Jazzy. The rescued mix of beagle, Jack Russell and who knows what else is an energetic puppy who will get into Marilyn’s paints if given half a chance.The gallery is just beyond a shady lower-level terrace overlooking the pond, where the Olsens invite visitors to relax with a beverage. On display inside is a collection that might have come from a number of artists. Marilyn’s paintings run the gamut from channeling van Gogh to delicate landscapes to bold renditions of big cats and the landscape of the American southwest. Beyond the gallery is a warren of rooms for each of Ed’s exploits. There is a woodshop, a glassworking section, a kiln room. Ed’s work includes his creations in glass including fused and molded pieces, stained glass, and his favorite for jewelry, dichroic glass. As the person wearing these pieces moves, light reflects off very thin layers of different metals and metal oxides. Each piece is unique and eye-catching.He builds dollhouses from wood.One of the garages is now a neatly organized workshop for his small-engine repair business.Marilyn stays on the main level, which includes their living space and her studio. She has multiple sclerosis, the remitting-and-recurring kind.All this enthusiasm is less about making money than it is about the way they have always approached life. It’s sort of a combination of a desire to create and making lemonade from lemons.“I was in elevator construction in New York City for 30 years,” Ed Olsen said. “It’s dangerous work.”Long story short, about a decade shy of retirement age, he endured more than one joint replacement.“It finally became obvious I had to give up the job. I had done woodworking during those years, and took stained-glass classes. I got interested because many of the old elevators had stained glass in them.”Racks in his workshop that securely hold a rainbow selection of glass sheets are turned into lamps — he prefers earth tones as opposed to Tiffany style colorings — and cabinet inserts.A priority these days is travel.“We want to get to see as much as we can, while Marilyn can still travel,” Ed said. “It’s her inspiration for her work. She especially loves the desert and Arizona, where she visited her grandmother as a child.”She brings along a big sketchbook and colored pencils. Back in her studio, the painting may not look exactly like the preliminary sketch.“I try to remember what I felt when I was there, to capture the emotions,” she explained. “I want to have you feel like I felt. Conveying the emotions is more important than painting it to look exactly as it looked.”For details about the gallery and the artists go to www.theSpottedDogGallery.com.