JoAnne Jaeger was born in northeast Pennsylvania in a rural community of small towns surrounded by country roads and farmland. As a child she enjoyed drawing and was inspired by the beauty around her. Her high school art teacher encouraged her to take her art more seriously so she focused on fine art at Pennsylvania State University. It was in an art history class that she became fascinated by the luminous paintings of the Impressionist and Post Impressionist movements.
"Painting is like being in a quiet, peaceful world where no one and nothing else exists."
Life brought her to San Diego in the early 90’s and she found herself once again seeking creative expression. After marriage and raising her son, she began once again to take classes in drawing and painting. She jokes that she has lived her life as an “eternal student”, always welcoming the next chapter. Over the years she studied at the Athenaeum School of Art in La Jolla with some very accomplished artists: Jeff Yeomans, Thia Nevius, Sharon Demery and Ken Goldman. It was there that she met Catherine Grawin who helped her transition from watercolor to oil and there began an exciting new period painting in a looser, more Alla Prima style. Other teachers who were impactful in her development are Claudia Verciani and Carole Mayne who broadened her knowledge of color, value, composition and painting from the heart. Oils are her preferred medium but she does love the lightness and transparency of watercolors.
JoAnne enjoys attending workshops and is a member of the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild. Being part of a wonderful community of artists who continue to encourage and enlighten each other is such a gift. She currently lives by the beautiful Pacific in Del Mar, California with her husband and two dogs.
