Jeanette Le Grue

Jeanette Le Grue was born and raised on Kodiak Island, Alaska. From a childhood of dramatic northern landscapes with midnight sun, long days of darkness, and the intensity of new life springing forth, comes a unique and powerful style all her own.

Jeanette moved to California in 1980, and developed the F.I.S.H. School of Color, which is an acronym for those things that have most influenced her work: F is for Jeanette’s French Father and her earlier life of commercial Fishing off Kodiak Island. I is for Impressionism and its emphasis on color and light. S is for Sergei (Bongart), the great Russian master painter. H is for Hawthorn (Charles), who founded the Cape Code School of Art..

Jeanette shows her work in galleries and museums throughout the United States. She has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine, American Artist Magazine, and Plein Air Scene. She has received numerous awards, including First Place in the American Impressionist Society’s National Show, the Irvine Museum Award at the Hawaii Plein Air Event, the Award of Excellence at the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, and the Helen De Cozen Award at the American Artists Grand National Exhibition in New York.

Artist Statement:
I paint in oil in bold fresh color. My subjects include still lifes, figures, interior scenes, garden settings, and landscapes. But my work is not really about the subject itself.  I am more interested in trying to capture the essence of my subject through the lush, luminous, sensual medium of oil paint.

I paint both in the studio and en plein air. I am inspired by moody days on the water, or patterns of light and dark in the landscape. I try to express the mood or feeling of what I see. I like to paint loose, with large brushes, and apply large spots of color.  Although I paint loose, I work within a strong abstract design. I create unusual compositions, sometimes breaking up the frame so that objects are cut off at an odd angle. I see myself as a detective trying to capture the vitality or diversity of a scene. I love patterns of reflected light and subtle nuances of color. I am always experimenting, looking for new ways to express my perceptions and feelings.

The painters who have inspired and influenced me include such masters as Sergei Bongart, Charles Hawthorne, Joaquin Sorolla, and Franz Bischoff.  They have helped me develop my own approach to color and light.