This watercolor depicts the area surrounding Betws-y-Coed, a quiet village in North Wales that became a favorite haunt of the artist’s. From humble origins in Birmingham, England, David Cox established himself as a leading watercolorist and drawing master in the early 1800s. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who mined the towns of continental Europe for fresh topographical subject matter, Cox focused his attention on England and Wales. There he found a variety of landscapes, from meadows and rivers to heaths and rocky crags. He developed his painting technique through studying the varied terrain of his native country.