Joanna Barnum

Joanna Barnum creates watercolor art depicting strong emotions, powerful characters, and eerie landscapes. She is interested in balancing realism with texture and atmosphere. Her signature technique includes the innovative use of masking fluid to splice and layer imagery. Joanna earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006. She is a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society, and served on the board of the Baltimore Watercolor Society for nine years. She has been an Art Renewal Center Finalist in Imaginative Realism and was awarded the Carl Folke Sahlin Medal in the American Watercolor Society International Exhibition. Joanna’s work has also been included in the Splash: The Best in Watercolor series from North Light Books, and she has written articles for Daniel Smith Artists’ Materials on her approach to watercolor. She was part of a small group of artists invited to visit and create work inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope for an exhibition at NASA Goddard, and her work is in the permanent corporate collection of Ten Percent Happier. As an illustrator, Joanna’s work has been included in American Illustration, Illustration West, and Infected by Art. She was a Chesley Award Finalist for “Best Gaming Related Illustration” for her work on Overlight with Renegade Game Studios and has also worked with clients including Wizards of the Coast, AARP, Cricket, Faerie Magazine, and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She is also the creator of “Lanterns Burn Bright: A Halloween Art Countdown.” Joanna currently lives in Harford County, Maryland with her husband Mike and their greyhound Zephyr. joannabarnum.com