Whitefish artist Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey and Colorado artist Richard Rodriguez will talk with art enthusiasts during Whitefish Gallery Nights on Aug. 7 at Cawdrey Gallery. 

Using brushes, palette knives, scrapers and squeegees with oil paints, Rodriguez depicts his subject matter — horses, cows, buffalo, farms, for example — in a style that blurs realism with the abstract, painting pieces that have the quality of photorealistic, dreamlike collages. 

“I walk the path between memories and dreams in my paintings. Lines throughout the pieces symbolize folds inherent in old photographs and magazines,” Rodriguez explains in his biography. 

His artistic journey started in Golden, Colorado, where his Cuban immigrant parents settled in 1959 after traveling from Miami. His passion for art was ignited while painting alongside his mother. Growing up in the modern Western landscape provided Rodriguez with a strong foundation for his creative vision. 

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Colorado and studied at the Art Students League of Denver, where he received the “Big Heart Scholarship.” Rodriguez has developed a distinctive artistic voice, finding inspiration in “the fleeting beauty of the overlooked that delivers unexpected grace to the everyday.”
 

After months of creating precisely planned works destined for art shows in the West and Oklahoma, Dunlop Cawdrey, who is known for her colorful paintings, has embraced spontaneity this summer. 

“I needed a break from carefully rendered pieces. I found some boxes of handmade papers and began mixed media pieces with no plan in mind. It was like an artist summer camp,” she said. 

Her process began organically. One piece started with deep reddish-brown fabric that felt like the “heart” of something, evolving into a horse-like figure as she layered handmade papers with acrylic medium, according to Dunlop Cawdrey. For another piece, she transformed what began as dyed silk and Chinese newspaper scraps into what she describes as “an Indian brave — or maybe Isidore Duncan in a fast car, scarf trailing!”

“Generally, artists start with a plan, a sketch, an order of operations, but I just went with my gut and sense of adventure,” she said. 

Gallery Nights is from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 206 Lupfer Ave, Unit 102. 

    Copper Patina by Richard Rodriguez, oil on canvas. The Colorado-based artist's work will be on display at Cawdrey Gallery Thursday, when the public is invited to meet the artist. (Courtesy image)