GO Paint! Chippewa Valley 2023
Explore the celebration of the flora, fauna, and folks of the Chippewa Valley captured by this spring's GO Paint! artists. This plein air exhibit showcases paintings made in Augusta, Cornell, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Durand, and Nelson, Wisconsin.
THE ART OF GO PAINT! SPRING 2023
5-Day Plein Air Paint Festival
Currently on exhibit until August 6
In the Brady & Jeanne Foust Gallery
Celebrate the flora, fauna, and folks of the Chippewa Valley depicted by this Spring’s GO Paint! artists. This Plein air art exhibit displays paintings within a 10-mile radius of the Eau Claire & Chippewa Rivers between Augusta, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Durand, and Nelson, Wisconsin.
Artist Statements and Bios
Statements and biographies are written by the individual artists and are published with their permission. The views expressed are their own. All artwork pricing is set by the artist and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All artwork sales are by commission with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports our endeavors to present quality visual arts programming that is free and open to the public. Thank you.
AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT AND COMMENTARY BY BETH STODDARD
AWARD WINNERS
- Best of Show: Derek Davis - "Light and Shadow"
- First Place: Randy Palmer - "High Water Channel"
- Second Place: David Williams - "16 Steps Down"
- Third Place: Diane Canfield Bywaters - "Man’s Need to Control Nature"
- Best River: Joe Maurer - "View of Christine St"
- Best of Pablo Center: Derek Davis - "Small Town Charm"
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
(In no particular order)
- Tadas Kosciuska - "Early Morning"
- Tristan Norine - "Cave Near Banbury"
- Trevor Knapp - "Half Moon Lake Trail"
- Anders Shafer - "Mother Goose's Pool"
- Julianne Johnson - "Brook at Rod and Gun Club"
- Barbara Shafer - "Detritus of a Spring Flood"
- Todd Kosharek - "Late Evening on Putnam Trail"
GO Paint! Chippewa Valley painters race to paint the flora, fauna, and folks of nearby Phoenix Park and the surrounding confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers in only 2 hours.
Adult Quick Paint Award Winners
- Best of Show - Derek Davis (South Saint Paul)
- First Place - Joe Maurer (Eau Claire)
- Second Place - Analise LaFrinier (Eau Claire)
- Third Place - Randy Palmer (Chippewa Falls)
Youth Quick Paint: Baby-Kindergarten
- Aria 2 years old
Youth Quick Paint: Grades 1 - 5
- First Place - Eva, 9 years old
- Second Place - Rose, 9 years old
- Third Place - Daniel, 9 years old
Youth Quick Paint: Grades 6 - 8
- First Place - Katelyn, 11 years old
- Second Place - June, 11 years old
Youth Quick Paint: Grades 9 - 12
- First Place - Lillian, 15 years old

Jean Accola has been a painter most of her life. In 1980 she moved to rural Western Wisconsin where she lived a creative life with her musician husband and two children.
In 1985 she opened the Accola Gallery in Durand WI, where she continues to work and exhibit. She has studied with many influential artists which helped her establish her skills in watercolor, oil, and acrylic. Jean Accola founded the Fresh Art Tour in 1998 and the GO Paint! Plein Air painting event in 2013 and is now looking forward to years of “just painting”.

"I am obsessed with design, negative shape making and the ruggedness of the north. These obsessions led me to study Canadian painters, most notably Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, who worked primarily in the early 1900’s. The illustrative style is personally relatable to me. Their career paths evolved from graphic designers, to illustrators, to painters. This has been my path as well.
Finding rhythm in the landscape has become a hallmark of my work. Rhythm to me is connecting highlight shapes with linked shadow shapes in an interesting way that creates movement and pathways for the eye.
My technique uniquely combines opaque acrylic with transparent watercolor that stylizes the landscape and is influenced by printmakers and batik artists. Their approach to creating negative shapes is similar to how I construct and distill my scenes.
Painting on location (plein air) and in the studio are different experiences and bring different perspectives to my work. As a past president of the MN Watercolor Society, I saw firsthand the endless variety of ways to handle watermedia. This excited me and drove me to explore and develop the distinctive style I have today.
I was fortunate to have two extended stays in China-- painting, teaching and exhibiting. In addition to China, I have painted in Puerto Rico, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and throughout the United States." - Juror, Dan Wiemer
All artwork pricing is set by the artists and is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All artwork sales are by commission with Pablo Center at the Confluence. Your purchase supports our endeavors to present quality visual art programming that is free and open to the public.