With over 11 million visitors each year, the Great Smoky Mountains are our most-visited national park.

Candidly, this statistic gave me the heebie jeebies when my husband and I contemplated moving from Pennsylvania to eastern Tennessee. When I go out to a park, I like to drop off the grid and retreat from our everyday world....I'm perfectly happy not to see anyone else (!)

While my husband and I weighed moving to Tennessee, we met a park employee and I expressed my concern to him about being trampled on (literally and figuratively) while painting there. He smiled quietly and, without missing a beat, counseled, "Just hike twenty yards in and you'll be fine."

Setting aside the social commentary in that remark, I took some comfort in this and realized that I could probably make it work. Since that time, I've discovered that he was totally right.

This piece was painted on location along the Middle Prong River. This is a small composition because it was a bit of an experiment with the surface. I created a more textured ground for this motif and I really like how it turned out. I'll probably revisit this idea in a larger future composition.

• About: Original oil on linen panel. (More information)
• Artwork size: 6" x 8"
• Framed size: 10.25" x 12.25"
• Frame details: Bronze, with dark gold highlights.