BARBARA JAENICKE
OPA, AIS, PSA-MP, IAPS-EP

Barbara Courtney Jaenicke (pronounced JAN-i-kee) loved drawing and painting as a child, but she can’t really say that there was any teacher or family member who identified her as a particularly gifted artist at a young age. It was simply stubborn determination beginning in her early teen years that launched her artistic journey. Her grandmother was an accomplished oil painter, and although she didn’t directly encourage Barbara to follow in her footsteps, Barbara’s childhood was surrounded by her beautiful paintings.

Barbara’s earliest training was with the late Juanita Crosby in Bordentown, NJ, who instilled a strong initial foundation of painting basics, and with whom she studied during her high school and college years.

Not realizing that a career in fine art could be a possibility, she steered her initial career choice toward another art-related field, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 from The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College), majoring in Art with an emphasis in Advertising and Design.

Barbara’s early career was spent in advertising as an art director, then later in corporate marketing communications. Without much time for painting during these earlier careers, she always knew she would eventually continue her original artistic passion, and in 1999 she gradually but intensely began to do so. Finally, in 2002, she was able to turn her focus to a fine art career, pursuing it full steam ahead.

Working in oil and pastel, Barbara strives to capture light-filled landscapes in a painterly, impressionist style. She holds signature memberships in Oil Painters of America (OPA) and American Impressionist Society (AIS), and has earned the distinctions of Master Pastelist in the Pastel Society of America (PSA) and Eminent Pastelist in the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS).

Her award highlights include Top 25 Finalist in the annual Plein Air Salon 2023, 2nd Place overall in the 2022 Pastel Journal's Pastel 100 Competition, Silver Medal in the 2019 OPA Western Regional Juried Exhibition; 2nd Place in the 2018 AIS National Juried Show as well as the People's Choice award in 2014; multiple wins in Plein Air Magazine's Plein Air Salon monthly competition including January 2024 (Best Water), May 2023 (Best Landscape), June 2022 (Third Place), September 2021 (Best Water), August 2021 (Best Landscape), January 2021 (Best Western), August 2017 (Best Water) and April 2014 (2nd Place); and multiple BoldBrush awards including First Place (December 2022), Third Place in November 2022, First Place in November 2019, Best of Show in March 2015, and many Finalist awards. She has been featured in numerous art publications including Pastel Journal, Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Artists Magazine, and Southwest Art, and has served as a contributing writer for some of these publications.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Barbara also lived in Atlanta, Georgia for many years until she yearned for snow and mountains for her landscape subject matter, which prompted her family’s move to Bend, Oregon in 2015.

Barbara is also a popular workshop instructor throughout the US, teaching workshops coast to coast each year.

“Painting isn’t just a job or hobby for me. It’s a passion. Maybe even an obsession. I try to paint experiences and emotions, rather than “things.” To do this, I need to push beyond the basic mechanics of creating the work. No painting is ever easy for me. Each one challenges me to create that magic that goes beyond just a painting of a thing. That magic doesn’t always happen in every single attempt, but it’s those euphoric instances when the painting 'hits' that make it worth going through all the painful 'misses.'"