KINGFIELD — Starr Adamo knows she is in the final stage of a progressive lung disease that has no cure and makes it difficult to breath, walk and do everyday activities.

As she struggles with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, she also suffers from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in her joints, especially the wrist and fingers.

Adamo, 61, is an artist and refuses to let those details keep her from her work.

“I have end-stage COPD, but I am very determined to keep on going,” she said.

The Wilton native, whose legal residence is New Portland, is a familiar face in the Kingfield area as the co-owner, with partner Beverly Francis, of Thunder Ridge Kennels.

But few know Adamo as an accomplished artist, an art therapist who has worked for years with people with mental illness, and as a teacher who taught art in public and private schools in Portland, Lewiston, Farmington and Oxford Hills.

Adamo, who is on oxygen and struggles to breathe, is currently residing at Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center at 174 Main St. in Madison, where many of the drawings she produces daily are on display and can be viewed by visitors, residents and staff.

This weekend, several of her drawings will be on exhibit at the Woodsman’s Restaurant on Route 27 in Kingfield, owner Diane Christen said.

There is no cure for COPD, a disease primarily caused by cigarette smoking and which becomes progressively worse over time. According to the National Institutes of Health, it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States with more than 12 million people diagnosed.

Adamo was interviewed by phone at Maine Medical Center in Portland where she was a patient for several weeks after suffering complications from COPD.

She said she needs to do her artwork because that is what keeps her going.

“Nothing will stop me. I have something to express and I will express it,” Adamo said.

“I will not lose my hand abilities,” she said determinedly. “I do special hand exercises, and I make myself walk every day.”

In spite of her arthritis, she continues to produce at least one, finely detailed pencil drawing a day, sitting in a portable chair and using a drafting table on wheels, a gift from a group of friends.

At one time, her oils, acrylics, drawings and watercolors had realistic subjects. Since her illness has worsened, she prefers pencil because of its speed of application and shading ability. Her style has also changed to what she calls “stream of consciousness.”

Now, every inch of surface is filled. Some drawing are political like “9/11,” with depictions of the destruction and rescue operations at the Twin Towers in Manhattan.

A piece titled, “From Wall Street to Main Street,” is a collage of political images intertwined with drawings of regular working people in all trades and and of all races.

“You can’t walk up to these drawings and say, ‘Oh, what a pretty picture’. You have to study them,” Adamo said.

She has done a “self -portrait” but instead of drawing herself, she has captured her life as an invalid.

“I’m not in there, but everything I use is — oxygen tanks, a privacy screen, tubes, a walker, commode, needles, pills, a breathing machine and even a roll of toilet tissue,” she said.

“People ask me why I’m so intense. I tell them there’s a lot going on in the world. You need to be intense,” she said.

Diane Sinclair, the administrator at Maplecrest, said Adamo’s work and her productivity are unbelievable.

“The drawings are magnificent. They give you a glimpse into how she sees things through her eyes,” Sinclair said.

“And they are so detailed. It is amazing someone that ill with a disease that can be so debilitating in so many ways is still able to do this level of work,” she said.

“She is blessed and fortunate. Her art gives her such comfort,” Sinclair said. “The staff and residents all enjoy seeing the work and we have them on the walls all around the facility.”

“Art can help put a person’s situation in perspective for their caregivers, who often are so busy doing routine care that they don’t have time to think of what is going on inside a patient’s mind. It helps us better understand and empathize,” she said.