BATH —The Centre St Arts Gallery LLC will present “Puffin Dialogues,” recent oil paintings by Lea Peterson, in the gallery at 11 Centre St., through Aug. 24.

A reception for the artist will be held Friday, July 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Peterson, an emerging Georgetown artist, has completed a year’s work on a striking collection of more than two dozen oil paintings called “Puffin Dialogues.”

The North Atlantic Puffin ranks with lobsters, moose and lighthouses among Maine’s most cherished icons.

“I’ve wanted to paint these beautiful seabirds since I took my first puffin boat tour on the Maine coast five years ago,” said Peterson. “Their enormous crimson beaks and orange webbed feet are stunning. Last summer I sketched them and collected resource material for my painting by spending time in a blind intake middle of one of their summer habitats.”

Her paintings capture the personalities and antics of these playful, colorful seabirds that make landfall only two months of each year to mate and hatch their young. Most of the collection will be on display at the Centre St. Arts Gallery, where Peterson will be the featured artist through Aug. 24.

To see the entire collection of “Puffin Dialogues,” or for more information on gallery dates, visit www.leapetersonart.net.

For more information about Centre St Arts Gallery, call 442-0300 or visit Centrestartsgallery.blogspot.com.