About the Artist - Ann T. Weaver

Having painted the mountain scenery and historic towns of the Colorado Rockies for many years, this award winning watercolorist makes prints and posters available to collectors everywhere.

Ann has created original watercolors and prints of Colorado mountain towns that typify the way visitors and residents remember them. She has produced posters for Frisco, Leadville and the Breckenridge Music Festival.

Hiking, snowshoeing and skiing in the backcountry, she collects images of the pristine forest and the isolation of the miners' existence. Small cabins and the simple town structures of the gold rush are featured in her paintings to preserve some of this fast disappearing past. Her paintings have appeared as book and magazine covers, and the Breckenridge library features a mural on local history by the artist. Ann has been a yearly participant in the "Wild About Colorado" Plein Air Art Festival, a benefit for the Continential Divide Land Trust, Frisco Colorado (www.cdlt.org. The 2016 event will take place from August 4-7.

For information on commissions, contact Ann by e-mail at ann@anntweaver.com.

Ann produced an image to celebrate the 150^th birthday of the town of Breckenridge, Colorado in 2009.

Breckenridge at 150
Original Watercolor by Ann T. Weaver

Stroll down Main Street. You’ll begin in Breckenridge in 1859. Wooden boardwalks underfoot, muddy ruts in the road. A horse drawn stage like Dave Braddock drove between Breckenridge and Lincoln City. The Silverthorn Hotel was the only building on Main Street to have its roof line running from north to south. A popular lodging place in gold mining days, the hotel offered sheets and pillowcases to its guests.

A miner heads next door perhaps to have his ore assayed. Down the street, a young woman sweeps us into the present day – 150 years later. Ski runs grace the mountain vistas, and charming gas lights line Main Street. Flowers and trees have been planted and structures restored.

Built in 1880 and later to become the “Miners Home Saloon”, the false-fronted building has housed shops and even goats. Next door, the building started with “A. Turk, Chemist, Druggist”, then became a telegraph office, a dry goods store and a theatre. Today, shoppers browse and boys carry a banner celebrating the town’s birthday. Columbines are abundant, and the majestic peaks above town never change.