Fruit Blend
(18" x 24", oil on canvas)

This seasonal composition of red and green fruit is particularly suitable as my final blog of the year. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of you who take the time to read, and sometimes respond to, my blog. Thank you for your most appreciated interest!

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

A Glass of Red
(18" x 18", oil on canvas)

I do enjoy doing smaller works and frequently try and work up a pair of paintings if not a whole series. I like how they look hung together on a wall and love the versatility smaller formats can provide. This one is a companion to last week's white wine painting.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

A Glass of White
(18" x 18", oil on canvas)

Although I find myself drawn lately to larger formats, I do try and mix it up a little with some smaller sizes.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Root Vegetables
(18" x 36", oil on canvas)

While rutabagas may be seen as a rather pedestrian vegetable compared to the exotic offerings found nowadays in most grocery stores, there is nothing ordinary about their colour and various textures. Pairing them with another brilliant root vegetable seemed a good fit.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Soft Focus Plums
(24" x 24", oil on canvas)

The dusty reds and blues of these plums called for some softer brushwork. My usual bright white cloth may have overwhelmed the more delicate colouring, so I opted for a subdued cloth. The grid of folds in the cloth serves to break up the space and is a nice contrast to the organic lines of the stem.

It has been a few weeks since my last post and I apologize. There is a nasty cold bug floating around and both my husband and I caught it. I hope to be back to normal within a week or so.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Golden
(24" x 18", oil on canvas)

A few weeks ago my husband and I attended a most moving wedding. It was heartfelt and personal, elegant and yet understated. The reception boasted a very appropriate apple theme, and, coincidentally, I was working on this painting of Golden Delicious apples.


I dedicate this week's painting to newly-weds; may marriage be both golden and delicious.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Dynamic Duo

(36" x 24", oil on canvas)

The scale of this painting takes these two red onions from the mundane to the heroic. The purple reds morph into warm whites to eventually rise up the canvas into dry earth tones that in turn melt into the background. This colour story, combined with the abstract quality of the dried tops and the linear appeal of my ever-present white cloth, makes what I feel to be a very "dynamic" presentation.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com. 

(Life is just) A Bowl of Cherries
(30" x 24", oil on canvas)

There were two quite distinct ways I saw of approaching this painting. The first, and perhaps most obvious choice, would have been a small piece that would emphasize the jewel-like quality of the cherries. I chose instead to do a super-sized version, giving the cherries and bowl heroic proportions.

Scale is key to perception, and I was keen to exploit the positive concept of a simple bowl of cherries and make a really big statement. It can certainly be no coincidence that these cherries are at peak season mid-summer, a time when it is easy to think positive and believe that life can be just A Bowl of Cherries.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com. 

Three Bells

(12" x 36", oil on canvas)

This painting was so much fun to do that I couldn’t wait to get into the studio each morning. The bright colours of the three sweet bell peppers, combined with larger format, gave me the opportunity to play around with the organic shapes. I explored some great colour passages that are almost abstract when viewed at life size, adding great excitement to the painting process and making this composition really pop.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com. 

White Peaches
(24" x 24", oil on canvas)

The creamy white flesh of these peaches is a lovely contrast to the vibrant yellows and reds found in the skin. The deliberate placement of the fruit ensures the diagonal centerlines are a nice complement to the pronounced diagonal stripes found in the cloth. The strong cast shadow on the tablecloth adds some interest to the bottom half of the composition, while not detracting from the center of interest.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Juicy Fruit
(30" x 15", oil on canvas)

The title really says it all...

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Olio
(24" x 48", oil on canvas)

Our little main street market is filling up with bright local produce making it difficult for me to choose between making dinner and making art! I decided to do both and came home with a large box of tomatoes on the vine, half to eat, and half to paint.

To see a day-by-day progression of this painting please click here.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

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Kitchen Geometry
(24" x 12", oil on canvas)

I’m enjoying this vertical format and, in this painting, I’m using its proportions to focus on the cloth. The combination of the stripes of the kitchen towel and the rectangles created by the pleats in the tablecloth lend this painting a real geometric appeal.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Primary Colours
(24" x 12", oil on canvas)

Here I deliberately bled the bright colours of the fruit and bowl onto the white cloth, creating some unity between the upper and lower half of the painting. The leaves add both height and a suggestion of fragility to an otherwise bold presentation.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Florida Sunshine
 
(12" x 24", oil on canvas)

Dreary days, like the ones we’ve been having for the better part of the past few weeks, leave me craving sunshine. These "Imported from Florida" oranges will have to do until the real thing shows up!

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Big Reds
(24" x 24", oil on canvas)

While these over-sized onions may be a somewhat unorthodox subject matter, the texture and dynamics of onions, garlic and cloth make for an interesting composition. The reds are built from many, many glazes of red and blue giving these onions a really nice depth of colour and richness.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Colour and Cast Shadow
(24" x 24", oil on canvas)

Although I put together this composition with fruit as the focus, the shadow cast by the grapes onto the pitcher, while unplanned, quickly became another point of interest. The shape, edges and colour variations of this shadow greatly added to the composition while not rivaling the bright reds and greens.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Colour Full
(24" x 18", oil on canvas)

The title says it all—this painting is totally about colour! To keep the colours clean I chose to use some pure cadmium pigments for the foreground elements. I did mix a clear green for my grapes as I've yet to find a bright green that I can be entirely happy with. The colours pop even more against the generous, dark neutral background.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Balsamico
(16" x 16", oil on canvas)

Balsamic vinegar from Modena is often prized for its depth of flavour, but I made my purchase based solely on the shape of the bottle. I used an onion half to echo the bottle shape, and left the skin intact to pick up on the golden tones found in the label.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Summer Sonyas
(24" x 24", oil on canvas)

The saturated yellows and reds of these Sonya apples are, for me, an ideal way to hold a summer's worth of sunshine in your hand. These beauties are cross between Royal Gala and Red Delicious apples, and are originally from New Zealand.

This is the second time I have painted this type of apple. Much to my delight the image of the first painting found its way, via the Internet, to a desktop in New Zealand and the actual creator of the Sonya apple. Through my correspondence I was to learn that the Sonya apple is named after the family's eldest daughter, who is in turn a very talented artist.

The Internet has made huge differences in the way I am able to communicate with fellow art enthusiasts. There is little more rewarding than having my work make a very personal connection with someone across the country, or in this case, on the other side of the globe.

Cheers to New Zealand and the original Sonya. I hope I have done your namesake proud.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Mushroom Mix
(20" x 30", oil on canvas)

While the casual observer may see white mushrooms and brown mushrooms, a really close look will reveal blues, purples, reds and yellows. Careful observation is often quite rewarding, to an artist or to anyone else with a keen interest.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Vinaigrette
(24" x 12", oil on canvas)

Before leaving this theme, I wanted to try a bigger piece. The composition translated well to a larger size and having extra space gave me room for two bottles and the opportunity to incorporate more colour into the shadows cast by the fruit.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Walnut Oil and Champagne Vinegar
(16" x 8", each, oil on canvas)

Here are another two paintings in this series of small formats. Doing 
these pieces was a little like eating peanuts, I just could not stop!

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Extra Virgin
(8" x 16", oil on canvas)

Encouraged by last week's piece I came up with a companion composition. The scale is quite small, so the Meyer lemon was the perfect size for this diminutive bottle.

This is a new size canvas for me, and I am really enjoying the smaller scale. I plan on doing a few more.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Truffle Oil
(8" x 16", oil on canvas)

I spotted this lovely bottle of truffle oil on a recent trip to an imported food store. At the time I was looking for figs, and I simply could not justify buying yet another (rather expensive) little bottle of oil when I have sooo many back in my studio. I didn't find any figs that day, but that bottle stuck with me and I could not stop thinking about it. After a few days of sketching it from memory I decided I had to have it.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Amber Bottles
(12" x 12", oil on canvas)

I picked up these bottles a few years ago, but had never been able to work them successfully into a composition until now. They are quite beautiful in shape and hue, but very understated. I felt anything colourful would be sure to overpower their delicate tones, so I chose a few simple garlic cloves to imitate the colours found in the glass.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

A Gift of Honey
(12" x 12", oil on canvas)

Using a slightly higher point of view gave the honey more colour and depth, because the light passes through the jar and bounces back off the light fabric. This angle also gave me the opportunity to work more interest into the fabric, playing up shadows and the raw edge of the linen. Although a very simple subject, I believe there is plenty of interest in this small canvas to keep the viewer engaged.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Stilton

(12" x 12", oil on canvas)

A small slice of blue-veined cheese with a flash of blue foil attached was the inspiration for this small piece. 

Looking for the right balance, I spent a fair amount of time adding detail to the wine glass, only to take it out again. While I needed the glass for the composition, I did not want it to overwhelm the other elements, preferring instead to keep it as more of a background player.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com. 

Jewel
(12" x 12", oil on canvas)

I really lucked out finding this large clementine with its fresh glossy leaves intact and forming what I interpret as a protective teepee-like shelter. A pared down composition allows the simple beauty of shape and colour to shine.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Fruit Gems
(12" x 24", oil on canvas)

After working on large format paintings for the past few months, I found it difficult to return to some smaller sizes. After a few false starts, I pulled out some of my favorite things and re-visited one of my most favoured size canvases.

The white grapes are quite distinctive, owing to the various sizes of grapes in a cluster. They are also not really white, but rather a pale green with tinges of red, making them ideal to pair with the orange. I like how everything sits comfortably in this space and think I have my small format "groove" back.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Fruit Cup
(24" x 18", oil on canvas)

I like the verticality of this composition created by the stem of the grapes leading down to the unravelling peel. The horizontals of the table edge and apple quarter balance this dominant vertical line.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

Rainbow
(30" x 30", oil on canvas)

This painting is a follow-up to last week's piece, but on a much larger scale. I set up my light source to maximize the amount of red reflections coming from the pomegranate and bouncing around the image, thus setting up a nice staccato rhythm.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.

A Lemon and a Pomegranate
(24" x 36", oil on canvas)

Happy New Year and welcome to the seventh year of my Painting of the Week program.

After a nice break I returned to my easel inspired by the colours of past festivities. I very deliberately paired the saturated hues of the fruit with the neutral vase, allowing reflections to shape the contour. I was particularly sensitive to the sharp edges of the fruit against the soft edges of the cloth and the disappearing edge of the vase.

If you’d like to have your personal copy of the Painting of the Week sent directly to your desktop every Wednesday morning please write me at daniele@DanieleLemieux.com.