David Payne, a skilled painter of landscapes, was educated alongside W E Lockhart at Annan Academy. He showed talent at an early age, but as was common practice in the 19th century for young artists, he was apprenticed to a house painter. However this profession soon became unnecessary as his skill as an artist allowed him to keep his family of 14 children adequately taken care of.
Payne actively exhibited in England from 1882 until his death in 1891. In 1882 he lived in Barrow on Trent before moving to Duffield in 1884, and then to Derby in 1888. During his flourishing years, he exhibited eleven paintings at the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, as well as paintings at the Nottingham Museum & Art Gallery. Great Barr, depicted in this painting, is an area of bucolic beauty located near Birmingham, England.