Alfredo Rodriguez is a master painter who delights in capturing the faces of Native Americans, pioneers, cowboys, miners, and children and letting those faces tell stories. He is particularly drawn to the faces of old people, saying, “The wrinkles, the expressions, tell the story.” But he is also drawn to the innocence, the “cleanliness of the souls” of children. No matter who or what he is painting, he does so with unbridled talent.
There is one face Rodriguez has painted that he will remember forever: an official at the American Counsel in Tijuana, Mexico. In 1970, while applying for a visa to leave his native country and come to America, that official asked Rodriguez what he did for a living.
“I am an artist,” Rodriguez said, but the official was skeptical.
Read the full article in the January/February 2024 issue.
Observed
Oil
20″ by 30″
Crossing the Cheyenne River
Oil
24″ by 36″
