COLORADO ROAD TRIP

#1 Capulan Mt. area in New Mexico, #2 Mountains close to Raton, New Mexico, #3 Spanish Peaks, Colorado. #4 is a rain storm over the Cuchara Valley going west from Walsenburg, Colorado,#5 is an Elk and #6 is the view out the cabin window with the hummingbird feeder. They would buz by us when we put the feeder out of a morning and they would drink the whole feeder in a day.

A BEAR Story......

Jim and Sandy Lile came on Monday to spend the week with us in Cuchara. After unloading and emptying the contents of their ice chest, it was left on the porch of the cabin. We all know to be careful with food and not leave any in the cars or outside the cabin because of the bears. Who would think about an "empty" ice chest. Sometime during the night, a bear checked out the ice chest. There was a block of ice still in it and the bear must of rattled it and became curious with the hope of something to eat in it. The next morning, the ice chest was found in the weeds a short distance from the cabin open with claw marks on the lid. Obviously the bear was not happy when he found ice in the ice chest. So, even though we did not see a bear, we have proof that one visited us with the evidence of a clawed up ice chest.

A Hummingbird Story.....

Another interesting story is about the swarming hummingbirds around the feeder we hung by the window. We enjoyed watching the hummers dive bomb each other and fight to get their turn at the feeder. One afternoon Phil went out to the feeder and decided to put his finger over the perch by one of the flowers where the birds sit to eat their fill of the sugar water. The little birds would sit on Phil's finger rather than the perch. It was fun to watch. Now we call Phil the "Hummingbird Man" !

This is my last post on our Colorado trip. It was very enjoyable and relaxing. Cuchara and Catherine's Cabin has a special place in our hearts and minds. We can recall cool mountain breezes, the smell of pine trees and the clear mountain lakes when life gets too hectic back at work and here in the hot Texas summer. Home is good but if we could choose our second home it would be in the Cuchara Valley close to the Spanish Peaks in Colorful Colorado!

Canvas by Canvas is painting a mini series of fishing flies and fishing lures. Take a look at these 6x6 squares with an assortment of eye-catching flies and lures. They would make great gifts for any fisherman in your family! http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/

To view more of Margie's art work, visit her webpage http://www.margiewhittington.com/

Thanks for letting me share our vacation and come back to see the next post on MW Murals and More of a mural or a painting or who knows what !

Be sure and scroll down to see Baby Jack in his Bear Hat and Slippers!!!!!!

Also, Ella's two year birthday party, "A Cupcake Tea Party"!!!!!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Colorado Rocky Mountain High

We are home from our week in Cuchara, Colorado. It was a fast but fun week of fishing, golfing, painting, hiking and spending time with our friends, Jim and Sandy Lile and our son, Jake, Helen our daughter in law and five month old Jack. We fished almost everyday and caught enough speckled and rainbow trout for a fish fry on Thursday evening. Along with the fish we had sweet corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and fried potatoes with onions. Sandy and Jim brought fresh olive bread and rosemary bread to add to our feast. It was all delicious! We ended our days with rousing games of Farkle, a dice game or 42, a domino game. A good time was had by all. Our grandson, Jack was the entertainment for the week. He laughed, cooed and blew bubbles. He also learned to turn over from his back to his tummy. He was a joy and watching his parents with him was fun, too. We did miss our daughter and her family, Angie and Eddie, Andrew, Christopher and Ella. We still enjoy the memories of Andrew catching his first fish at Blue Lake and the fun times we have had with both grandsons in Colorado.

We painted in group on Sunday afternoon after church at the Cuchara Chapel Sunday morning and a lunch of spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. Do you get the impression we did not starve while in the mountains. I think altitude affects ones appetite. Helen, our daughter in law, had never painted in watercolor before. She has painted lots of walls. Her first watercolor was of sunflowers in the foreground and Gomer's Butte, a familiar landmark in the Cuchara Valley in the background. Phil painted a view of Blue Lake where we like to fish and Jake drew a still life of the wild flowers on the table. I started the painting above with an Elk standing in a meadow early in the morning with the Spanish Peaks behind him.

We were sad to leave early Saturday morning but it was good to get home to good ole hot Texas.
Check back to see drawings I did along the way as we drove through New Mexico and Colorado.

This is Jack in his bear hat and slippers. We didn't see any bear but we have proof that one visited outside our cabin one night. That story will be in another post on my blog. Don't miss the bear story!!!!


Be sure and check the Canvas by Canvas blog and see our Sassy Shoes, Cupcakes and a new series of Angels coming soon. Also a collection of fishing lures and fishing flies are in the works.
Don't miss our new recipe and food blog with paintings to illustrate the recipes.

http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/

http://www.margiewhittington.com/

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/

Cuchara Colorado

Cuchara, Colorado is the place to be when it is hot in Texas! The paintings above are plein air paintings painted on the porch of a cabin where we stay in Cuchara. The Sunflower was drawn from a bouquet of fresh sunflowers picked outside the cabin sitting on our dining room table in Cuchara. If you look real close there is a little spider on one of the petals. Nothing extra for the spider! Fishing, hiking, golfing, plein air painting. We all do exactly what we want to do to pass the time during a relaxing week in the mountains of Colorado.

Come back to see more paintings and photos of Colorful Colorado.

Visit http://www.margiewhittington.com/ to view more of my paintings and http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/ to view collaborative paintings by a group of 11 artists of which I paint with.

Scroll down to see Ella's two year old birthday party........
A Cupcake Tea Party!

Check out my Slide Show!

CUPCAKE TEA PARTY

Sassy and Silly

with lots to say and do

our sweet little cupcake

is already turning two!

Ella's birthday party was Sunday Afternoon, July 29, 2007, 2 pm to 4 pm, a little girl's tea party! The cute pink with green polka dot invitation was designed and made by Ella's mom, Angie. Our creative daughter, Angie, loves to design and make cards, decorate and put together precious keepsakes for the girls attending to take home as a remembrance of the affair. Ever party starts with the invitation! Angie used pink, green and purple as the color scheme. Adept at the computer, she made the paper, penned the poem and put it all together with a darling bow.

Next came the food for the cupcake party. What better to have than "cupcakes" with cookies, finger sandwiches and fruit. Lime sherbet and ginger ale made a lovely pale green refreshing punch to go with the dainty finger food.

The tables had purple with white polka dot table clothes and the chairs were covered with pink satin and secured by a pretty green ribbon and bow adorned with lavender, pink and purple flowers. Pink. green, and purple straw hats along with each little girls name plate decorated the table. A cute ceramic tea pot with balloons were the center piece of two little girl tables and one big girl table. In each chair was a colorful boa to play dress up with. Upon arrival the girls got to decorate their straw hats with ribbons, bows and flowers with the help of their mothers. After eating the delicious finger food and play it was on to the presents and a happy ending to the afternoon tea party.

Each little girl received a small pink and purple basket decorated with green and white polka dot ribbon and a bow on top made by Angie with a miniature clay cup cake in the center of the bow made by me, Ella's Grammy. The pretty basket contained a pink heart cookie baked and decorated by Angie, bracelets, a sucker, a small jar of pink finger nail polish, a cute pen and note pad and some lip balm. Everyone had a ball at the "Cupcake Tea Party" in honor of Ella's second birthday!

We hope you enjoyed viewing the tea party as much as Angie, with Grammy and Ella's assistance, enjoyed putting it all together.

ZEBRAS, LIONS & LEOPARDS, Oh My!

Grace's grandmother has traveled in Africa and photographed many of the animals that are roaming around Grace's Safari Room. A Zebra and her colt graze in the meadow while a Lion takes a drink in a pond. In the background is an Elephant and her two babies following her and Gazelles napping under a shade tree. There is a Cheetah watching warily from the grasses by a stream and a tall Giraffe stands in the corner looking over the room from above the high window. There is a pack of Wild Dogs and a Hyena peering around the tree where above is a Leopard snoozing on a big branch.

In the bathroom atop a shelf sits a Monkey with a cup and a

toothbrush to greet Grace in the mornings and say goodnight

at bedtime.

All these animals keep Grace company while she plays,

reads and dreams about future adventures in the wilds of Africa!

Stay tuned for more art on walls as well as canvas and.....

Check out a new Canvas by Canvas blog http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/

with paintings and recipes. UMMMMGOOD!

Nancy's Red Boots

This is a painting I am submitting to Preservation is the Art of the City art show and sale sponsored by the Fort Worth Historic Society. The art show will be on display at the Fort Worth Community Art Center on West Lancaster in the Arts District of Fort Worth, starting September 1, 2007.
"Nancy's Red Boots" is my Preservation-theme Piece.I will also be showing several watercolors, oils and acrylics.

WHAT IS A FORT WORTH COWBOY?

From his head to his toe,
He's not an average Joe.

A cowboy's "ten-gallon" hat serves for shade
On a hot summer day.

A "John B" is the cowboys' hat of choice,
Made by John B. Stetson Company, of course.

A kerchief on his face to keep out the dust.
A nice warm vest for the cold is a must.

His chaps aren't for decoration,
They're for rough work and protection.

Now, most important of all,
The "Boots" are what make a cowboy stand tall!

The boots that a cowboy must wear
Are made with the greatest of care.

From the narrow toe to the high slanted heel,
Each feature has a use and a special appeal.

Made with the very best grade of leather,
The inside is lined to be soft as a feather.

Hand-tooled, colorful inlays and brands,
Boot straps called "mule ears" by old cow hands.

The "Yellow Rose of Texas" is the design that adorns
The pretty red boots which Nancy has worn.

poem by Margie Whittington

The red boots of this painting belong to Nancy Standlee, a friend, fellow artist and blogger supreme. Not only does she paint colorful figures in her Calypso Series, she gives helpful hints on blogging in her daily posts. See what is happening on her blogspot today. http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com/

An Enchanted Room - Part II

Here are a few more pictures of Alyssa's room including a picture of Alyssa and her kitty, Trouble. The armoire in her room is decorated with swirls, hearts and stars like the ones on the walls. The front of the armoire has polka dot curtains on the top panels and the drawers and drawer pulls are decorated to match the motif of the room, too.

One last fairy waves her magic wand over the room as if to say.......

"MAKE A WISH !"

Visit again soon to see what is appearing on the next wall or canvas.
Don't forget to view my web site http://www.margiewhittington.com/
and Canvas by Canvas http://www.canvasbycanvas.com/ to see new projects.

Thanks for dropping in.

An Enchanted Room - Part I

Alyssa's room is full of fairies, flowers, hearts and stars! A couple of surprises, too. A kitty named, Trouble, is purring in the corner and a green dolphin is flying over the whimsical swirls. Fairies with their magical wands create a fantasy room for a little girl to dream and play in.

More pictures of Alyssa's Enchanted Room will be coming soon.