New daily oil painting "Bolivar Afternoon"

Bolivar Afternoon
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2014

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I've been spending a lot of time at Crystal Beach. My girlfriend started managing a restaurant there and I've played a few acoustic shows there too. The coast has always called to me, and getting to spend more time there has been very inspirational to me.

In the past few weeks I've completed and sold several small paintings of the marina area, and just finished a 12" x 24" painting of some of the beach houses nearby.

News has been spreading of the barge accident this past weekend that spilled oil into the bay and has shut down part of the ship Chanel and even the ferry service to Galveston. One of the biggest concerns is the nearby habitats frequented by tens of thousands of migratory birds. This is the time of year when they usually start flocking here. Crews have been working non-stop trying to contain and clean up the spill. Hopefully there won't be too much long term damage to the area, although I'm sure local fisherman and the shipping industry are already feeling a few pains about the situation.

This 8" x 10" painting is of  a stretch of beach called Bolivar Flats. It's just before the ferry landing on Hwy 87. It's one of my favorite local beaches. It's a birding area and less frequented by people so it's expansive beach front is usually less cluttered. I often paint the view along the beach looking towards Galveston, but today I favored the simple straight on view if the Gulf.

There's something that stirs inside me when I look out over the water towards the distant horizon. It's like standing at the edge if the world. I can imagine how sailors all those years ago might have thought the world was flat and comes to an abrupt end out there in the distance.