My Favorite IAPS Convention Story

Plein Air Hollyhocks from Old Town Albuquerque

 Where do I begin! This will be my 6th IAPS convention so I have a lot of stories! You may have heard or experienced some convention highlights yourself......the candy store, the Paint Around, the PastelWorld exhibition, the classes and workshops, the banquet!  But what about the other experiences....the ones you might not have heard about....the personal stories!

Imagine this....you come to the convention hotel and immediately you know you are among kindred spirits. It is all about pastel! You are surrounded by all things pastel and you know that just about everyone you see is a pastel artist or part of the pastel world. It is amazing and at the same time a bit overwhelming. I remember my first convention. I was star struck when I saw my favorite pastel artists live and in person! They were the rock stars of the pastel world and they were there! I quickly discovered that they were happy to chat and share and really they were 'one of us!'

I have some stories about meeting my favorite pastel rock stars but today I want to share another story...this is probably one of my most favorite convention stories. It is all about making connections..making lifelong friends all because of a stick of pigment....pastel friends for life!

Read on for my story .....

Enjoying some chips and guac with good friends

Mario came all the way from Croatia! We painted over at Old Town.

It was the first full day of the 2017 convention. I had a light schedule since I had two presentations and I knew I would need to focus. I was taking a lunch break and standing in line for the lunch buffet in the hotel lobby. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around expecting to see someone I knew or maybe someone who recognized me from my blog or YouTube. I was shocked when I saw who it was! No it wasn't someone famous. It wasn't a pastel rock star. It was a very unexpected surprise....my good friend from Louisiana. I didn't even know that she was coming to the convention! We hugged and I truly was elated. She had a busy schedule so we planned to meet and get caught up after the sessions ended. We had a great time chatting whenever we could.

I met Becky because of pastel. She had come to one of my workshops a few years earlier and happened to stay as a guest of my host. We hit it off and had a great time both in and out of the workshop. She then came to my workshop retreats in New Mexico which further cemented our friendship. We connected and became friends because of pastel and for that I am grateful.

I have made so many connections with artists around the world because of pastel (and social media) These friendships have enriched my life in so many ways. So while the classes at IAPS are great, the trade show fun (and dangerous), it truly is the opportunity to make these special connections with your pastel tribe that makes this convention special.

Do you have a favorite convention story? Why not share it over on the Facebook convention group page! https://www.facebook.com/groups/831672407030582/ 

Just one of my favorite photos from the last convention I have a thing for ravens.