From the trails of Montana and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the rolling fields of Kansas and Maine's Atlantic shores, Theodore Waddell and John Roush have always been inspired by outdoor scenery. And while both men are stirred by nature and rural areas, each has very different ways of painting a scene.

Roush paints with great linear realism and depth. In a style that conjures Andrew Wyeth, many of his paintings are even mistaken for photographs. On the other hand, Waddell's style is impressionistic, and his pieces are very painterly.

This was the appeal for Terry Oldham, director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph. The museum will open exhibitions from both artists today with a reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Oldham says the work of Waddell and Roush resemble the breadth of artistic endeavor.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all medium," he says.

Albrecht-Kemper will host the exhibitions through Sept. 6. Here is more on the exhibitions and the artists behind them.

Rocky Shores and Mountains

John Roush spent his working life at an electric utility company, which is about as far from the artistic world as one can possibly get. But before that, he studied architectural drawing in high school and junior college. Through his studies, he became fascinated with linear perspective. It shows in his work.

Roush paints with pastels to recreate scenes with stunning authenticity. Some of Roush's paintings are inspired by his native Kansas, while others come from Colorado ventures and yearly trips to Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine.

"They're places that are very real and places that I like to spend time," Roush says.

While Roush enjoys the fields of Kansas because they remind him of his childhood and Colorado's "Rocky Mountain high," he likes painting most in Maine. He appreciates the ocean scenery, as well as the Easterners' attitude of art, the lifestyle and the differences in light on the coast.

"Plus, you can't get good lobster in Kansas," he laughs.

Roush says he finds the scenes he wants to paint on hikes. Oftentimes, he will finish a hike, and then go back to coves, houses, fields or ships with his painting supplies. Sometimes, he will even paint the same scene multiple times from various angles or under different weather conditions.

"I could paint something every day for a week and they'd all be different," Roush says.

Roush is a master signature member of the Pastel Society of America and also is a founding member of the MidAmerica Pastel Society. His exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper will feature work from all three bases of Roush's operation with plenty of buildings, barns, roads and houses. Roush's work has been featured previously at Albrecht-Kemper, but never in his own show. Terry Oldham says that he wanted to feature a Roush exhibition at the museum from the moment he saw his paintings.

"His pastels are fantastically realistic and full of light," Oldham says. "He takes a very simple subject and makes it poetic."

Angus Anthem

Theodore Waddell is perhaps Montana's most nationally renowned artist and has played a significant role in the development of late modernism in his native state.

The 67-year-old Waddell grew up in Laurel, Mont. After meeting a college art professor at the age of 17, Waddell says he knew he wanted to paint for the rest of his life. So he studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Montana State University and received his master of fine arts from Wayne State University in 1986. He later taught in the art department at the University of Montana, but now he ranches in central Montana and northern Idaho.

Waddell has been inspired by many artists, including Van Gogh, Monet and John Singer Sargent. However, he was most taken by impressionists.

"They moved people from illusion and made people aware of the canvas and of its own presence," Waddell explains.

Waddell applies an impressionistic use of paint, color, light and texture when painting scenes in Montana and Idaho. Some of his favorite locations include Monida Pass and the Wood River Valley. He only paints what he has seen with his own eyes. Occasionally, Waddell will bring along a wagon that he converted into a portable palette so he can paint on site. But most of the time he paints in his studio from memory.

"When you depend on your memory, you strip away the parts that aren't important," he explains.

Surprisingly, the subjects he most enjoys painting aren't the mountains, the trees or the plains. They are the animals. Cows, in particular. As a rancher, Waddell says he's simply painting what he knows.

"They populate the landscape, the land that I look at," he says. "Wherever I go, I'm moved by what I see."

Waddell's exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper will be centered on his Black Angus cows. He feels people from "incredible cattle country" like Missouri and Kansas may appreciate his views of cows as much as he does.

"In my early days, the cows paid for the paintings. Now, the paintings pay for the cows," Waddell laughs.