Magdalena Old Timers Show and photos

The time flies when you are having fun, they say. Well, it crawls when your internet is on the fritz. In Magdalena we had to use an internet cafe, Bear Mountain Coffee House and Gallery. It wasn't the fastest and when we are wireless I share Gene's computer so my time is limited a little there, too. The iPhone didn't work in Magdalena except at the internet cafe. We arrived here in Angel Fire on Wednesday to dial-up. I am trying to adapt, hard on us old folks. Hopefully we will be back on high speed by Wednesday.

The skies are the most beautiful in New Mexico, maybe because we are up higher. Whatever it is, I do love them.

The evening clouds from the motel.

One of the sunsets in Magdalena.

We went to the memorial service for Wendy Jones on Monday morning, July 6. It was very nice up in Water Canyon on a beautiful morning, too. There were many people there to celebrate her life. She was well loved and remembered.

Road to Water Canyon.

In Water Canyon.

Then we went to Albuquerque to visit Gene's Mom, Frances, for a couple of days.

Back to Magdalena on Wednesday night and put up my show on Thursday for the Old Timers Reunion and the show at Peppers for July 11 and 12.

The famous Ladron Mountains from I25 between Albuquerque and Socorro looking west. I usually show them from HWY60 looking north.


We went to Socorro on Friday to the doctor for me for my congestion (My congestion is finally clearing. It seems to be a combination of cold and sinus.) and to play golf with Roger, who came from Arizona. We only played nine holes on a beautiful day. No photos of golf again. Oh my.

I did get this old building which I thought was the Ice House, but it may not be. You can see the train coming up the tracks. The train runs to a perlite mill just west of Socorro.

As we were returning to Magdalena I got the train coming back from the mill. Not a telephoto shot, a regular through the windshield shot.

Old Timers in Magdalena was quieter than I remember in years past. It was quiet at Peppers. The parade had a great crowd. The parade is very good for a small town. They have a rodeo queen that has to be over 62, I think it is. My Mom was the second queen and Gene's Mom was queen in 1986. The rodeo performers have to be fifty years old. If it is a team category, they have to add up to 100 years -- you could have a 70 year old and a 30 year old. Then they have a barbecue with the meat cooked underground.

My show was from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. It was a really nice day for me as I had many visitors from our family and friends that always stop by. I did not get any photos and that is sad. It would have been fun to post photos with my sister, brothers-in-law, nieces, sisters-in-law and others. I won't mention all by name, I am sure I will forget someone.

Frances, Gene's Mom, in 2005 at a tea for the past queens and election of the new queen. She is ninety-two now. What a young face she has.

The outside at Peppers.

The top shelf with my paintings and some items from my Cafepress shop, link on the sidebar if you care to visit my shop.

The right hand corner for my show. It is high, so I put older paintings there with the exception of the little adobe house on the bottom left.

The left corner of my exhibit.

The main wall. It is difficult to have a flowing arrangement. The top row have permanent nails that can't be moved because of the thick adobe walls. The lower two rows are on some boards that held kitchen cabinets so you can't vary the height too much. I am thankful to have such a nice place to exhibit and Marky Bamert, owner of Peppers Art Gallery.

We served sandwiches and carrot cake from the Magdalena Cafe. That is an amazing place. They are open for breakfast and lunch except on Sunday and are open on Thursday and Friday for dinner. They have huge portions and excellent food. Excellent! We had wine, chips (Texas shaped tortilla chips from our HEB grocery at home.), cookies, candy, and soft drinks.

On Sunday, I painted outside Peppers. Lilly, Wendy's daughter, painted with me. She is a very grown up nine year old. She has been painting with me since I started the shows a Peppers, six years ago, so I was thinking she was going to be 12. She is great and will be an artist one day. She was a little distracted, of course, but did great anyway.

Lilly's greenhouse, 8 x 10 inches, acrylic on canvas board. Lilly paints with no fear and is not afraid to use her ideas and technique. I never touch her paintings. She is fun.

I painted on an eight inch square board. I painted the edges so it did not have to be framed. My demo is the door prize for my show. Mary Soliz from Albuquerque won the painting.

The door prize almost finished. It was a scene out of my memories. I would like to live in a house like that with poplar and cottonwood trees around.

The finished door prize. Acrylic on board, painted on the edges for no frame, 8 x 8 inches.

I did sell some paintings to my great collectors. I thank them so much for supporting this old artist. Next year I plan to have the demo on Friday when there are more people around. Sunday morning they have a pancake breakfast at the rodeo grounds and then people pack up and begin to leave. The food booths and the arts and crafts stay open but the crowd really dwindled.