Richard Rodriguez | A Peaceable Kingdom

By Bonnie Gangelhoff

A trio of horses huddle together, appearing comfortable with the closeness of their sleek, brown coats. To the casual observer it’s a peaceful scene that maybe is unfolding somewhere on a ranch in the American West. But for artist Richard Rodriguez, the painting IN BALANCE holds a deeper meaning. The artwork is one in a series Rodriguez created featuring horses from the Colorado Horse Rescue. “In this painting I wanted to convey the social groupings of the horses and how they bond and can find solace with one another in a new environment,” Rodriguez says. “Instead of ‘brokenness,’ I wanted my work to show that a traumatic past does not define an animal’s worthiness.”

At the Colorado rescue every horse has a story. Some may suffer from disabilities such as club feet or blindness; some had been abused or neglected by previous owners; and others arrive after a beloved owner has passed away. Rodriguez’s mission was to restore their dignity and pay homage to the creatures who have served mankind well for centuries. Through hours of observation the Colorado-based artist witnessed how the displaced horses found comfort, safety and vitality in their new home.

Last year, IN BALANCE won a top award at the annual Western Art Show & Sale held at the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona. While Rodriguez is perhaps best known for his evocative portrayals of horses, he also paints scenes from rural communities where tractors, farm equipment and barns punctuate the landscape. When it comes to other animals to capture in paint, the artist favors the hefty, 1,000-pound varieties such as buffalo and cows. In MOO’DY BLUES Rodriguez turns his creative eye on three cows relaxing in a field of green. “I’m drawn to painting cows because of their calm, tender nature,” he says.

Rodriguez works intuitively and from his imagination. For MOO’DY BLUES, for example, the artist imagined a scene where a light illuminated three cows from above. He wanted to convey the peacefulness and humility of the cows, using their imposing hulks to dominate the artwork. “I envisioned a high-contrast chiaroscuro effect where the subjects are defined by a singular light source against a dark, receding background,” Rodriguez says. “I titled the work MOO’DY BLUES to evoke a sense of serenity or a mysterious melancholy reminiscent of the atmospheric qualities found in classic 1960s album art.” The painting is currently on view through June 6 at the Governor’s Art Show in Loveland, Colorado.

Reviewing the artist’s body of work, it’s easy to see he has some fun thinking up witty titles for his cow portrayals. In addition to MOO’DY BLUES, his bovine paintings have titles such as WHO MOO’D, GOT MILK and IN THE MOO’D.

Rodriguez’s paintings all have one thing in common. They straddle the border between realism and the expressive freedom of abstraction. He explains, “This style allows me to maintain the ‘soul’ of the West while using intuitive mark-making techniques to convey emotion, memory and atmosphere.”

Steve Cawdrey, who represents the artist at Cawdrey Gallery in Whitefish, Montana, says it is Rodriguez’s way of pushing the boundaries between styles that makes him unique in the traditional Western art world. “He has developed a gutsy style that is his own,” Cawdrey elaborates. “It really is bold and challenges the viewer while [at the same time] he is drawing in the viewer, too.”

Whether Rodriguez is painting a buffalo or a bovine, his canvases are a collage of shapes amid lush layers of oil paint. Texture is a key element in a Rodriguez piece. To achieve this effect the artist not only employs the usual brushes but also relies on palette knives, scrapers and squeegees to create intriguing shapes and surfaces. The artist is fond of saying, “No painting leaves my studio flat.”

Rodriguez grew up near Golden, Colorado, a suburban neighborhood west of Denver. His parents emigrated from Cuba in 1959 and eventually made their way from Florida to Colorado. Rodriguez describes the location of his boyhood home as residing at the intersection of rural and suburban life. “I grew up where the grid of suburbia met the organic curves of the pasture,” he says. “I witnessed the literal collision of the shapes.”

Rodriguez recalls that he could ride his bike for just 20 minutes, leaving the man-made world behind for rural and wild terrain. When he was 8 years old, the budding artist started painting with his mother and her friends who gathered every so often to paint together. “I remember vividly the smell of oil paint and turpentine,” Rodriguez recalls. “I was always excited to see what everyone was painting.”

He remained interested in art through his high school years. After graduation he studied fine art briefly at the University of Denver. His career path then took a sharp U-turn. Thinking about his future and supporting himself, Rodriguez transferred to the University of Colorado where he majored in marketing and later earned a Master of Architecture degree.

While working as a residential architect, Rodriguez spent some of his free time painting as a hobby. In 2010, he began thinking seriously about art. Eventually, he applied and was awarded a scholarship to the Art Students League of Denver where he studied with established artists like Quang Ho, Raj Chaudhuri and Hazel Weckbach. In 2015, Rodriguez embarked on his second career as a full-time fine artist.

Today Rodriguez and his wife live on a ranch in Berthoud, Colorado, a small rural town 40 miles north of Denver. Rodriguez says he is “living the dream.” When he steps out his front door, he is not far from open space and landscapes reminiscent of his childhood home. Farms, cows and ranches dot the surrounding countryside and provide daily inspiration.

These days Rodriguez is strictly a studio painter enjoying the control indoor spaces afford him rather than having rain, snow or insects interfere with his creative process. His studio sits above a garage on his property. High, horizontal windows let in north and south light. As this story was going to press, a large-scale painting depicting a buffalo sits on his easel. “Sometimes oversize canvases are the only way to convey the raw power of animals like the buffalo,” he says.

He generally works on four or five paintings at one time. For example, if he makes a mark he doesn’t like, he sets the canvas aside and lets it dry. Another painting goes up on his easel in a continuing rotation of works in progress. For Rodriguez there is no time to waste. This year’s schedule is packed with museum shows and art fairs, ending in December with the Coors Western Art’s Young Guns Art Show & Reception in Denver.

Although busy with his art career, he finds time for his two horses, Trinity and Chloe, grazing in a pasture not far from his studio. Rodriguez adopted both equines from the Colorado Horse Rescue. He admits to a special bond with horses which make them treasured subject matter. “Horses possess a complex muscular structure and skeletal grace that challenges me and my skills,” Rodriguez says. “The way the light hits their coat and the fluid movement of their gait offer endless studies in form and motion. Horses have a spirit of raw emotion, ranging from wild power to quiet vulnerability.”

It feels good, he adds, to be honoring animals from his childhood. “Horses, cattle and even buffalo were always nearby while growing up. To a child, these animals are massive, silent sentinels. Painting them now is a way to recapture the sense of awe and protection they provided me then.”

Bonnie Gangelhoff is a Colorado-based writer and former senior editor of Southwest Art. 

contact informationrmrstudio.net   

representationAbend Gallery, Denver, CO, abendgallery.com.Adorn Objects, Denver, CO, adornobjects.com.Cawdrey Gallery, Whitefish, MT, cawdreygallery.com.Deselms Fine Art, Cheyenne, WY, deselmsfineart.com.LeeAnne Ramey Art Gallery, Bozeman, MT, leeannrameyart.com.

upcoming showsColorado Governor’s Art Show, Loveland Art Museum, through June 6.Art Fair Jackson Hole, Jackson, WY, July 24-26.Evergreen Fine Arts Festival, Evergreen, CO, August 22-23.St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, MO, September 18-20.Of Chaos & Order, Evergreen Center for the Arts, October 2026.Coors Western Art’s Young Guns Art Show & Reception, The Legacy, December 2026.

This story appeared in the June/July 2026 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Subscribe today to read every issue in its entirety.

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