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Every year for 30 years, Dorothy Chaffee has headed to Monhegan Island in Maine with its images of dark cliffs, surging surfs and scenic surroundings.

She has transferred those seascape visions, mostly through oils, to canvas over the years, despite deteriorating eyesight.

Twenty-five of her paintings are on display through Oct. 27 at the Norfolk Public Library through the sponsorship of the state and local arts cultural council.

Although legally blind, Chaffee, 82, a longtime Norfolk resident, captures details within her scenes, such as in "Lobstermen At Dawn," containing shadowed figures in a gray fishing boat set against a backdrop of dark purples, browns and charcoals of the cliffs and dawning sky.

There's "After the Spring Storm," depicting three figures on a path alongside a house painted a soft shade of pink, the same color one of the figures is swathed in. Another is in blue and the third in yellow, and there are splashes of those colors on the walk and among the green trees. The exhibit contains a few paintings with themes other than the island. There is "Jane & Paul's Farm," picturing children poring over pumpkins and a bright green umbrella at a farm stand. And there is one dedicated to the tragedy of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in which an American flag looms large and bright against gray-colored wreckage of buildings where rescue workers appear paused.

But many more are of her selected seascape, the sun rising and setting on it. "I love this island," she said, noting she travels to Monhegan during the off-season. "The air, the waves, the cliffs - it's so peaceful."

One of her favorites in the exhibit is titled "Misty AM."

"I did this after my husband died," Chaffee said, referring to an event two years ago. They had been married for 61 years. "I took more pains with the details," she said.

The painting features weathered buildings and lobster crates blurred by the fog, and two people, one garbed in bright yellow and another in a shade of bluer gray, strolling along under a red and blue umbrella.

Yet another painting, titled "Zinnie's Window," features a multi-paned window with brightly-colored glass bottles and jars and other curios within the panes. Chaffee said the painting is from when she first arrived at the island and she visited Zinnie in his second-floor domicile. She remembers the big old coffee pot from which he served her and his cat.

Most of the paintings are done on site, but others are from photographs.

"I have a story for every one," she said, sweeping her arm to encompass the exhibit.

Chaffee said the library provides "a beautiful opportunity" to display works.

She said she first started to paint when her children were teenagers "and it was time to think what I was going to do with myself." "I'm not an academically-trained painter."

Chaffee said she had been painting for about five or six years when she experienced a significant decrease in her vision.

She still does some profiles, but less so than in the past. She uses special eyeglasses for close-up work and details.

"I can't drive and I can't read, but my determination makes up for it," Chaffee said. "I really don't let it stop me," she said of her limited eyesight. "It makes it difficult, but not impossible."

Chaffee, who has for years created nativity scenes for churches, including her own Federated Church in Norfolk, recently took up clay sculpting. "I bought a second-hand kiln and wheel, so I will be doing more of that."

But her passion remains painting.

"It's my whole life and it gives you something to think about besides your ailments," she said.

And to have her paintings on display and for sale in her hometown library, is "exciting," she added. "I love being part of the scene."

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.