Jacqueline Fahey graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1951 and first exhibited paintings in 1952. Marriage to a prominent psychiatrist and looking after three daughters resulted in certain periods of her career being more productive than others. She has worked continuously as a painter since 1978. In 1965, she moved with her family to Tāmaki Makaurau. In 1980, she received a QEII Arts Council Grant to travel to the United States of America to research the women’s art movement. In 1984, she featured in Anxious Images at the Auckland City Art Gallery (now Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki).