by Jill Stefani Wagner

ANOTHER fantastic Plein Air Convention and Expo (PACE) is in the books! This year we spent a wonderful (but slightly chilly and damp) week in San Francisco. With over 900 students and 80 faculty (including me as pastel demonstrator!) the place was hoppin!! The event opening (above) is hosted by Eric Rhoades and lets us know all of the wonderful demos, lectures, painting trips and parties that lay ahead. As I’ve explained to my friends, there is so much to do, see and hear, it feels like drinking from a fire hose. You can’t possible do it all. So we PACE ourselves and pick the events that attract us the most.

One of the “must dos” is catching up with all our artist buddies. Some these friends I only see a couple of times a year on the plein air festival circuit, others much more often. It is such a joy to reconnect even though that means late nights and little sleep!

And of course, in the midst of all this I always forget to take photos. Duh. Luckily I have a few from others. Above at the opening party is me Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today, and my pastel bud and roomie Nancie King Mertz.

Nancie and I came into town early to paint the city and also took a break to see the Monet Exhibit at de Young Museum. What a treat!

Plein air painting friend and “Ohio Boy”, Chuck Marshall, and I posed for a quick photo at the Hippie backdrop at the beginning of the convention.