"Pipe Down" new daily 8" x 10" oil painting by Mark Nesmith

Pipe Down
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2015

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I'm not a bird watcher exactly. I don't know the names of them all. I don't carry binoculars and I don't really seek out avian life, but I often notice birds, particularly when I'm at the beach.  Lately I've been plugging away mainly on larger canvases, often spending a few weeks or more coming back again and again to work on the same images.  Now that my shows at Third Coast Gallery in Galveston and Davis Gallery & Framing in Austin are in full swing I thought I'd get back to some smaller daily paintings I could finish in a couple of hours and just relax a little. 

I recently stopped off at Bolivar Flats and a couple of other beaches on my way back from the gallery in Galveston to shoot some reference photos and make a quick sketch or two of the sunset.  Bolivar Flats is sort of a mecca for bird watchers and photographers, and as usual there were plenty of our winged friends around.  These little pipers always catch my attention because their squatter statue stands in such contrast to the plentiful herons and pelicans.  

I started this 8" x 10" at lunch with a simple charcoal outline.  I wanted to keep things simple so I only used one, scraggly 1/4" flat bristle brush for the entire painting but tried to keep the surface interesting by varying my strokes and using the handle of the brush as well.  I've done a few small 5" x 7" panels in the past of spoonbills and pelicans, but this was my first piper.  At some point I'd like to try my hand at a larger more fully rendered bird, but for now I'm enjoying these occasional small flights of fancy.

"Bolivar Rising" 15" x 30" oil painting of a Gulf Coast sunrise by Mark Nesmith

Bolivar Rising
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
15" x 30"
2014

Click here to purchase this painting.

When we were packing up to move I stumbled upon this forgotten beach painting I started 4 or 5 years ago. I wasn't happy with it and never finished it but I kept it around thinking I'd get back to it someday. A while back I starting playing around on it again. After two or three afternoons at the easel, I'm finally happy with it. The sky now casts a warm, radiant glow and I think I've managed to catch a bit of the calm rhythm of the waves I feel when sunrise wakes the coast. This painting really has me dreaming of warmer weather and salty breezes. Sometimes digging up the past yields new treasure.

This painting was recently featured in the artist showcase at Le Grand Bal at the Dishman Museum in Beaumont, TX and as part of the art walk at Third Coast Gallery in Galveston.  It had a buyer at Le Grand Bal but the sale fell through, so it's time to find this beach a new home. It's on a deep gallery wrapped style canvas. The edges are painted a neutral grey and the canvas is wired and ready to hang.

I'm the featured artist for Volume 6 of the AOT Collectors Update!

I'm honored to be the featured artist for the AOT Art Collectors Update this week.  The page has some of my paintings, bio and statement, and information on some of my current events. Please take a few moments to check it out and let me know what you think. It's a great feature and worth subscribing to for ongoing information about some great artists in Texas.

Click here to view Volume 6 of the AOT Art Collectors Update featuring my work. 

New Artists of Texas Page

My Artist of Texas webpage got a makeover today.  Stop by and check it out and let me know what you think.

"Mudbugs" oil painting and the joys of a Southeast Texas crawfish boil

Mudbugs
Mark Nesmith
Oil on canvas
24" x 30"
2014

Click here to buy this painting.

I grew up in Beaumont, TX, but after graduating from Lamar University with my BFA in 1998 I moved to Dallas. Over the years trips back home to SE Texas became less frequent as I wound up working more and more to support my growing family, but the people, places, and culture of SE Texas and the Gulf Coast was always in my heart and my mind.

 

When my marriage was coming to an end in 2011-12 I moved back to my hometown where most of my family still lives as a much needed reboot for myself. Beaumont had changed a lot in the years I'd been gone. There were still lots of familiar places, but most of the friends I'd had growing up had moved away. I reconnected with a few people from my past, fell in love with my beautiful muse Elizabeth, and have been working on my happily ever after ever since.

 

One of the things I did after moving back was to start painting and drawing my new (old?) surroundings, and one of the ways I started meeting new people and making new friends was at the crawfish boils at The Pacesetter Lounge which my girlfriend was managing at the time. I like crawfish ok (never liked all the work it takes to peel them though,) but what really makes a crawfish boil special is sitting around with everyone sharing stories and laughs over a cold beer and some spicy crawfish. This painting is kind of a still life, but for me it's a reminder of all those evenings spent with good friends making new memories for a new life. This painting was originally exhibited as part of my one man show at The Art Studio, Inc. entitled "The Way Back Home" and recently was on display at Third Coast Gallery in Galveston. I think it's time to find these mudbugs a good home.

Press release for "Terra Chroma" two person show with Denise Fulton at Davis Gallery & Framing in Austin, TX

Enchanted Rock
by Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
36" x 48"
2015

Landscapes by Denise M. Fulton and Mark Nesmith

On View: August 15 - September 26, 2015
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 7-9pm

Austin, TX – As we draw parallel lines between Denise M. Fulton and Mark Nesmith's work, we also begin to articulate a theme around the structure of texture. A distinctive mark making sets them apart, as the world around them takes shape through the expressive handling of the medium. Terra Chroma will delineate those parallels while also affirming the individual nature that each artists expresses through the vehicle of the brush.

Denise Fulton, in earlier years, was working in textile design. With the medium of acrylic on panel, she uses a direct painting style. Each stroke placed is intended to compliment the ones around it, creating a movement and texture that is characteristic of her works. Each mark is translucent, and the variations of thin and thick paint at the edges of each stroke adds a sense of depth and complexity to the piece. While the paint is still wet, scratching and lifting creates a secondary texture and vibration to the scene. Born in Ohio, Denise Fulton has been painting since 2009 and now resides in Austin, Texas.

Mark Nesmith works mostly with oil on stretched canvas. His landscapes adhere to an observed reality that he claims to "reinterpret through time, memory and imagination." Working mostly from digitally altered photographs and his own reference sketches, he creates dramatic compositions, scraping away and scrubbing at the paint to give the work a patina-like texture. His hand is very expressive, and the worlds created on the canvas are full of color and seductive light. Mark Nesmith is a musician, painter, and teacher and is featured in many private collections across the United States and overseas.

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Davis Gallery
837 W.12th St
Austin, Texas 78701
512-477-4929

Hours:
Mon-Fri | 10-6pm
Saturday | 10-4p

Jen Jenkins
Assistant Gallery Directorcontact @ davisgalleryaustin.com

"Crystal Clear" Oil painting Bolivar Penninsula and the beaches along the Gulf Coast

Crystal Clear
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
16" x 16"
2014

Click here to buy this painting.

Here I am again at my favorite stretch of the Bolivar coastline. From Bolivar Flats if you look to the right you get a glimpse of Galveston Island in the distance, to the left and you see the beach houses along Crystal Beach. This was a perfect beach day, soft pastel clouds just overhead and a brilliant blue sky with the sun illuminating the distant hook of the shore and slightest indication of houses and civilization along the horizon. This painting was part of a recent show I was featured in at Third Coast Gallery in Galveston as part of the summer art walk series. It's wired and ready to hang and looking for a good home.

Updated available works on Daily Paintworks

Bolivar Rising
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
15" x 30"
2014

Click here to buy this painting.

I've been blessed this summer to have so many opportunities to show my work in some wonderful galleries. I've been so busy that I've neglected my Daily Paintworks page, but I still have bills to pay, a wreck of a house to renovate, and a teenage mouth to feed, so I spent some time this morning updating my online gallery of available artwork including the beach paintings I brought back from Galveston this week. If you think you might be interested in helping me get a new home for my little art babies, follow the link to my Daily Paintworks gallery and check out the available pieces. Towards the top of the gallery page you can select to view available paintings only or all artwork including pieces I've already sold. There's information about each painting and a Buy It Now button for PayPal.  I'm also available for commissions if you have something special in mind. Thanks for all the encouragement and support you all give me about my artwork! 

Click here to view my available paintings on Daily Paintworks.