I just came back from the OPA convention in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was an excellent convention anyway. The first few days were setup for everyone to go plein air painting, or paint in a studio environment in the hotel. The convention setup 2 rooms for still lifes or portrait painting with models. I never really setup in either of those rooms, since I enjoy plein air painting so much more.
After the first few days, the convention then moved to having demos and classes. Each of them were packed with information, but in hindsight, I would rather have had the demos and classes beforehand, and then have the few days of painting to put what we learned into use. But I know how difficult it is to put a convention on, especially one this size. I appreciate all the hard work that went into it.