some gtk_render_* blank?

[The Devils Jester <thedevilsjester gmail com>]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone here has experience with the gtk_render_* set of functions.  

I have had mixed results:

gtk_render_background and gtk_render_frame work pretty well with gtk_button and gtk_window (but not with most other widgets)

gtk_render_extension, gtk_render_focus, and gtk_render_frame_gap do not seem to produce any output, no matter which widget's style I pass in, or which flags I set. 

gtk_render_check (and gtk_render_option) does render, with the wrong color, a check mark or a circle, but no background or frame (gtk_render_frame and gtk_render_background do nothing on these widgets)

With all of the above, I have tried setting various states, and using many different widgets as the style base without any success.  I have also made sure to use widgets that are parented and have been realized.

I am doing something wrong, I am just not sure what.  My process is simple:

1. Get a (realized) widget

2. Get a cairo_t

3. Get a GtkStateFlags

4. Get style context for widget

5. Save context

6. Set State

7. gtk_render_* . (may have more than one render call, like background & frame)

8. Restore context

An example where this works perfectly is the GtkButton.    Is there some simple step I am missing to get these other render functions to work correctly?