Suffolk native Henry A. Rawles Jr. was a talented and prolific watercolor artist with an abiding love of the great outdoors and of traveling.

Combine those characteristics, and you get a large and beautiful body of work that depicts many landscapes from Suffolk and beyond.

Considering his family’s love of history, it’s also little surprise that his wife, Beverly Rawles, recently chose to donate dozens of her late husband’s paintings to the Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society, with the wish that they be used for the benefit of the society.

To raise a little operating capital, the society will be selling the paintings in a three-day show next weekend at the Suffolk Art Gallery, with a private event for historical society and Suffolk Art League members on Friday and the public show Saturday and Sunday.

Rawles’ body of work includes beachscapes, plains scenes and forest panoramas. Some paintings include buildings and people, but they are usually not the focus of the work.

As historical society volunteer Sue Woodward put it when she repeated a friend’s comment this week, “This is the kind of art people like to live with.”

So if you’ve got a blank space on a wall in your home and you’d like to support the historical society and art league, head out to the Suffolk Art Gallery, 118 Bosley Ave., this weekend. You’re sure to find something you like — the challenge will be getting there before it’s sold.