Unlike Texas, everything is very green in the middle of summer in Tennessee. Hardwoods, pines, green on green. And did I mention the Tennessee River? My wife and I were blessed and visited our daughter and son, son-in-law and grandchildren for a few days of camping on the Tennessee River. First couple of days the humidity was probably near 100%, but then it cooled off, air dried a bit and it was beyond nice. We had to find a blanket during the night while sleeping in our tent. That’s the Tennessee I remember as a child.
While everyone was playing in the river, fishing, etc. I took a couple of trips exploring the landscape near our campsite. Shiloh National Battlefield was only about 15 miles away so I had to check it out. A sober reminder of the nature of man. Shiloh was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War up to that point, which was April, 1862. I was also looking for a place to setup and paint, but it was late in the day and I headed back to the campsite.
Easel setup on a lonely road in middle Tennessee for the oil painting “Twin Pines”
On the previous day, I came across an interesting place, off the beaten path which turned out to be a great place to paint. I setup and painted “Twin Pines”. The place was quiet, green and I really enjoyed the solitude. During the 2 hours or so I was setup painting, not one car came by that location. I love Tennessee in the summer…
Oil on panel, plein air painting of a middle Tennessee scene called “Twin Pines”
If I turned my head to the right, about 90 degrees, this was the scene I could see through the pines…
