The Welsh painters JD Innes and Augustus John painted together at Nant-Ddu in 1911-12. John saw Innes as a 'naif', and said he 'was never happier than when painting in this district'. Arenig is the mountain to the north-west of Laka Bala. The shore of the lake can be seen in the foreground viewed from Nant-Ddu.

This is the largest and latest of Inne's known paintings of Arenig; it may have been completed in London rather than in north Wales. It shows the influence of pictures by Henri Matisse and Le Douanier Rousseau, which Innes may have seen in Paris.