The seascapes and landscapes of Bruce MacDonald will be on display at the Southport Memorial Library during the months of March and April.

MacDonald learned the basics of oil painting at home from his grandmother, Edith Goggeshall Pulsifer, a graduate of Vesper George School of Art in Boston. Long ago he took lessons from Albert Czerepak in Gloucester, and more recently has taken several courses in color theory with Peter Brown at the Maine College of Art.

MacDonald has painted, at times, all through his adult life and has sold numbers of paintings to private collectors. In 2006, he had an exhibition of paintings at Bowdoin College. His paintings were displayed at the Maine State House under the Arts in Capital Program sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission. He has also exhibited at the Northlight Gallery in Millinocket and the Boothbay Region Art Foundation.

He paints seascapes and landscapes primarily, but has also enjoyed doing some portrait work.

Like many painters, his interest is in portraying the effects of light and shadow on the various places, objects and people of the world around him.

In his art, he tries to capture distance and space.

"The challenge is in creating a sense of space, of three dimensions on two, and the effects of sunlight, when in fact paint can only give off reflected light at a tiny fraction of the light of the sun,” MacDonald said. “The fun — and the frustration — is in dealing with these limitations."

MacDonald lives in Boothbay with his partner Georgia, and has created a studio for his works on Back River Road. He is also developing a website.

Contact the artist at bmacdon@roadrunner.com.

Meet the artist for coffee and conversation, Tuesday, March 10, between 9 and 11 a.m. at the Southport Memorial Library. The library is located at 1032 Hendricks Hill Road.