The Back Forty

"The Back Forty"
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2011

A few months ago I had a gig with my band Hackberry Road at a private party.  The owners had a beautiful home, and we were set up on a ledge overlooking their pool behind the house.  On the other side of the fence behind the pool was open pasture with full trees and gentle slopes in the distance.  I remember being struck by the contrast of the blue sky against the orange of the field.  It reminded me a bit of paintings by George Inness so I whipped out my iphone and took a picture.  Then I forgot all about it until last night.  I was stumbling around in my studio, putting off working on a large painting that I'm not quite ready to start.  I looked through the camera roll on my phone and the scene once again jumped out at me.  It's not necessarily an uncommon view in Texas, and it's certainly a bit sweet and idyllic, but I've always loved the complimentary color scheme of blue sky against orange field.  I painted this one pretty quickly, using a medium sized round and a small flat bristle brush.  I dream that someday I'll have acreage like this of my own and be able to step out the back door into my own landscape painting, but for now I'll have to settle for oil on canvas.