Beautiful Azores, 12x12 Oil on Canvas, Landscape of Terceira Island, Azores

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My family lived for many years in the Azores, Portugal and it was a lovely place to be, with beautiful scenery and warm, friendly people. They are nine volcanic islands about 850 miles west of Portugal, and we lived on Terceira. Street bullfights were an exciting event, with men holding one end of a long rope and the bull on the other end, charging at people in the street. I learned that bulls can easily run up steps or jump over walls. They also have bullfights in a ring, but never kill the bull.

I think I need to go back for a visit, especially after reading Diana Marcum's book, The Tenth Island, about the Azores. That is what inspired me to paint this.

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Waterfall, 11x14 Oil on Canvas, Smoky Mountain Landscape Painting

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It's amazing what you can find a few steps off the road in the Smokies. This was a magical place, with mossy green rocks and falling water. I love my home at the beach, but those mountains call to me now and then. This is a signed original, ready to frame.

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Christmas Palm, 12x12 Oil Painting on Canvas, Tropical Trees

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Christmas Palms are so beautiful. I see a lot of them in public landscapes, but there are never any berries. I guess they are considered too messy and get trimmed off. In Elbow Cay in the Bahamas I saw a lot of them left on the trees and it gave such a lovely touch to the landscape. What other palms have such a striking fruit?

Cowshade, 12x12 Oil Painting on Canvas

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This is such a peaceful scene. It was challenging having the shade in the foreground, and it certainly didn't turn out to be a "daily" painting. It took a while to get it like I wanted, but I'm happy with it now. This scene is the view our daughter gets from her backyard.

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Seneca Lake, Oil Painting on Canvas, 8x10 Landscape

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This painting is a happy memory of a day of visiting wineries and vineyards in the Finger Lakes. This view had pasture, vineyards, a lake and hay bales. What more could an artist want?

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Rouge et Or, Oil Painting on Canvas, Portrait of Woman with Red and Gold

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I went for a bit of drama here. I used metallic gold paint, which is hard to appreciate on a computer monitor. I had some fun with it. This is a larger painting, not a "daily painting," 18x24 inches.

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Color My World, 8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas, Portrait of Woman

This was my contribution to the Pieces of 8 challenge for July, which was to paste a half face to a support, then do a creative rendering of the other half. Everyone did an amazing job, which you can see at Piecesof8art.blogspot.com.

Summertime always means painting between traveling and yardwork. Am I still a full-time artist if I keep stopping to pull weeds? Hmmm. Not sure. This week I was weeding four feet away from a large snake, but he was pointed the other direction, so I didn't bother him and he didn't bother me. I did keep an eye out, though. I try to be at one with nature, as long as nature isn't a roach. I will kill myself trying to get away from a roach.

I complain a lot about weeding, but in truth I enjoy gardening, and in my family we have a name for that. It's the "Chulie Gene." My grandmother Chulie was a master gardener, and most of our family is infected with the Chulie Gene. My niece actually has a nursery, Paradise Found, and works like mad to grow very exotic and unusual succulents.

See what I did here? I plugged the Pieces of 8 and my niece's nursery, all in one blog post!

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