About the Artist

JULIA LARSEN-JAAKOLA is a formally trained Visual Artist. She earned her B.F.A. degree in Illustration, from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, 1989. She worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic artist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2000, Julia had a calling to teach, earning a B.S. Degree, Summa Cum Laude, Elementary Education, Grades 1-5, Communication Arts and Literature, Grades 6-8, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN, 2003.

Julia continued to expand her licensure to Visual Art Education, Grades 1-12, through the Licensure via Portfolio program from the Minnesota Department of Education, 2008. Jaakola taught in the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota, primarily in Visual Art, for thirteen years.  In 2014, Julia discovered painting en’ plein air, with her medium of choice, transparent watercolor. Julia enjoys traveling to paint and is a member of the Arizona Plein Air Painters, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Outdoor Painters of Minnesota and is a Signature Status member of the Minnesota Watercolor Society.

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

“I am a naturalist at heart,” describes Julia. “I discovered plein’ air painting in 2014, and eventually transitioned out of the public classroom, and into ‘God’s Studio,’ painting in the outdoors.” After my first plein air painting competition, my journal reflection read, “I love the songs of the woods, blending upward visually in light. I love the tangle of past decades emerging out of the earth, contrasting the past with the present. The layering of time embodies a fascinating tapestry, driving my pursuit to capture the sense of what the place is offering.” “When a place beckons with curiosity, I pause to ask, what has happened here? What is the message here, that I am to translate to my viewer?” Jaakola’s plein air works are finished pieces. Each painting is an informed yet deeply intuitive response to the natural environment, through transparent watercolors. Each painting is entered into with prayer and questioning. “The works give a feeling of calmness,” as described by viewers of Jaakola’s work.

 

PLEIN AIR PAINTING FESTIVALS

 

2025: Art in the Pines 6th Annual Plein Air Festival, Jim and Linda Lee Performing Arts Center YC, Prescott, AZ

 

2025: Painting on the Prairie, at the Laura Engells Wilder Family Homestead Site, De Smet, SD

 

2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024: Plein Air Grand Marais, Johnson Heritage Post Gallery, Grand Marais, MN

 

2022: Washburn First Inaugural Plein Air of Washburn (PAW) Festival, Washburn, WI

 

2017: Plein Air Duluth – Paint du Nord, Blacklist Brewing Co., Duluth, MN

 

2021: Prairie Lakes en’ Plein Air, Art of the Lakes Gallery, Battle Lake, MN

 

2019, 2020: Red Wing Plein Air Festival, Red Wing Arts Depot Gallery, Red Wing, MN

 

2018, 2019: Hudson Plein Air Festival, Seasons on St. Croix Gallery, Hudson, WI

 

2017, 2018, 2019: Port Wing Plein Air, Port Wing Town Hall, Port Wing, WI

 

2016, 2017, 2018: Harvey Dunn Plein Air Paint Out, De Smet Event Center, De Smet, SD

 

 

EXHIBITIONS

 

2024: Group Exhibition Paint Arizona Day, "Red Rock State Park," Sedona Artist Market, Sedona, AZ

 

2022: Group OPM Exhibition, Art Loft – Bore’al, “My Philip”, St. Paul, MN

 

2020: Solo Gallery Exhibition — Julia Jaakola Watercolors July 1 – August 31, 2020. Cloquet Pine Knot

Newspaper Lobby, 122 Ave C, Cloquet, MN

 

2020: Solo Gallery Exhibition — Julia Jaakola Watercolors, Rum River Art Center pivot to On-line store, Anoka, MN. June 6 – July 1 

 

2019-2020: Minnesota Landscapes Group Exhibition, Julia Jaakola’s Watercolor painting “Churning Tides at Glensheen” is the Exclusive Solo Watercolor painting featured among the 39 other OPM oil works, Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, MN

 

2018, 2019: Outdoor Painters of Minnesota Spring Salon, Gallery at Zeller Studio, Hopkins, MN

 

2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020: Spring Juried Exhibitions: MN Watercolor Society, MN Landscape Arboretum Gallery, Chaska, MN

 

2015-2019 Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts Gift Shop, Original paintings and prints, Fridley, MN

 

2015: Group Exhibition,“Tornado, The Art of Remembering,” Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts Gallery, Fridley, MN

 

2014: Solo Exhibition, Blaine City Hall, Blaine, MN

 

2016, 2022: Group Exhibition, Encore! Performing Arts Center and Gallery, Cloquet, MN

 

2012, 2013, 2014: Julia Jaakola Originals featured in the Krista Artista Art Gallery, Anoka, MN

 

2011, 2012: Julia Jaakola Originals and Prints featured, Skyline Art Gallery and Gift Shop, Duluth, MN

 

 

ACTIVITIES

2022: Feature Plein Air Watercolor Instructor and Speaker - Washburn First Inaugural Plein Air of Washburn (PAW) Festival, Washburn, WI

 

2021: Plein Air Duluth, Minnesota Fine Art Academy, Duluth, MN

 

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022: North Artists’ Studio Crawl, Anoka County, MN

 

2021: Honey Bee Festival: Oldenburg Arts Foundation, Oldenburg House, Carlton, MN

 

2017, 2019, 2021: Loring Park Art Festival, Outdoor Painters of MN, MPLS, MN

 

2016, 2015: Cloquet Art Fair, Big Lake Golf Club, Cloquet, MN

 

 

HONORS & AWARDS

 

2025: Honor Award of Merit in Watercolor, Competition Class, "Venture (into the Dells)" Art in the Pines Plein Air Festival, Prescott, AZ

2023: Beauty of Water Media: Award, Competition Class, “Love,” Plein Air Grand Marais, MN

 

2022: Achieved Signature Status in the Minnesota Watercolor Society, Minneapolis, MN

 

2021: Artist Grant: West End Flourish, “Plein Air Painting on the St. Louis River - Using the Historical Approach in Capturing the Spirit of a Place When Painting en’ Plein Air." Funding made possible by Springboard for the Arts, RETHOS/Artists on Mainstreet

Bush Foundation, City of Cloquet, Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community. Cloquet, MN

 

2019: Honorable Mention: “Trust,” Minnesota Watercolor Society, Spring Juried Exhibition, Chaska, MN

 

2018: People’s Choice Award, “Trust,” Port Wing Plein Air, Port Wing, WI

 

2017: Honorable Mention, “Duluth Port Storage,” Plein Air Duluth – Paint du Nord, Duluth, MN

 

2013: Best in Show, “Winter in Minnesota,” Blaine Arts Council, Blaine City Hall, MN

 

2001: Second Place, Visual Art Award, “Gift from the Gods,” Mixed Media, Haute Dish Magazine, Metropolitan State University, St.

Paul, MN

 

1984: First Place, Visual Art Scholarship, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, CA

 

 

PRESS

https://www.washburnculturalcenter.com/calendar/2022/6/8/washburn-inaugural-plein-air-festival-workshops

 

https://www.outdoorpaintersofminnesota.org/uploads/3/0/3/6/30364255/2023_pagm_awards_press_release10.29.3.pdf

 

Swanson, Emily. There will be an air of artistry down by the river, Extra, Pine Knot News, www.PineKnotNews.com, August 20,

2021, page 14.

 

Markusen, Ann. Watercolorist finds joy in plein air painting, “Solo Art Opening,” Culture, Pine Knot

News, www.PineKnotNews.com, July 3, 2020, page 17.

 

Slack, Patrick. Gallery to open June 6 at Rum River Art Center, “Julia Jaakola Watercolors en’ Plein Air,” Arts, Anoka County

Shopper, www.abcnewspapers.com, May 27, 2020, page 7.

 

“Outdoor Painters of Minnesota Exhibit at Banfill-Lock Center.” Arts, ABC Newspapers Union

Herald [Anoka], https://www.hometownsource.com/abc_newspapers/free/outdoor-painters-of-minnesota-exhibit-at-banfill-locke-

center/article_f3b479d6-99be-11e9-bcbf-1bf8f98b93e6.html. June 28, 2019.

 

Alveshere, Ollivia. Local artists display work in Northstar Artsts’ Market. Arts & Entertainment, Anoka County

UnionHerald, www.abcnewspapers.com, May 25, 2018, page 6B.

 

Palmlund, Donna. Artists capture different ‘Harvey Dunn’ skies, The De Smet News, Volume 136, Number 33, August 17, 2016,