Father and Son Show: Robert and Robbie Moore paint in Breckenridge September 25 2025, 0 Comments

By Kimberly Nicoletti

Impressionist painter Robert Moore is in Breckenridge to paint on Saturday, September 27th, while his son, Robbie Moore, paints on Friday, September 26th. Both will hang out in the gallery each day to talk to visitors and answer questions.

Of course, one of the main questions people ask Robert Moore is how he paints such compelling, rich and nuanced landscapes when he is color blind. While he only sees the world in yellows and blues, his mountains, aspens, rivers, wildflowers and other scenes pop with cohesive and varied color, drawing viewers in deeper and deeper as their eyes wander around the large — up to 6-foot — paintings, taking in every detailed hue.

He said painting and being color blind was quite frustrating in the beginning, so he worked with a talented color theory instructor to learn about color progressions, which he compares to choosing the key of a song and then following the chords to create a harmonious piece. An assistant lays out whatever color progression he selects on his palette.

“I’ve trained myself to look for the stepping of harmonious colors that are related but that clearly produce the variety of what we see in nature,” he says.

Although art experts like Brian Raitman view him as the top impressionist painter in the West, Robert never rests on his laurels.

“He’s never allowed himself to stop developing in different areas, and it’s been super inspiring to me, and I've admired him for that,” Robbie says. “Lately, his color progressions have been pretty extraordinary, to where he has more control with his color than he ever has, and yet he still captures the spark.”

Robert humbly says he is “getting control of my process, where in the past it was more or less a collection of errors, but now I’m able to replicate the areas that work, and I’m in the process of understanding why they work and then improving the design aspect of them and the color. … Just like in nature, you can keep digging in and going more and more in-depth as far as how things work and why they work, and that’s where I am with my paintings. I want to take them to another level of complexity and still be in control.”

Another topic that often arises while he paints in galleries is how and why he paints with both hands on a horizontal surface. The technique began out of necessity when he broke his dominant left wrist weeks before a show opening, so he began painting with his right hand. He continues working with both hands, whether he uses a brush, palette knife or other tool because it generates a unique energy as each hand forms natural curves and marks.

Growing up, Robbie was immersed in art. Nevertheless, he studied finance. But then he realized how important art was to him.

“I was applying art principles to the business world; if I had a presentation with all these numbers, I could tell a story in a very dynamic way to where I have a hierarchy of information that I communicate just like when I’m painting, I have a hierarchy,” Robbie says, adding that he also painted while working in the corporate world. “There were so many opportunities within the art side of things, I had to choose one or the other — I chose a better thing over a good thing.”

That “better thing” involves responding to the “most beautiful moments in my life,” as opposed to sitting in an office.

He learned skills and work ethics from his dad, whom he credits for sharing information and new techniques with anyone. 

“He wants to bless other people with what he’s learned, so he’s never hidden his new findings,” Robbie says. “I learned from him that as long as there’s a decipherable or an understandable order with color, you can do just about anything. The analogy we always use is when putting on colored sunglasses, it changes the color of everything, but it still makes sense. So in the same way, as long as you’re intentional about creating an order and you’re consistent with that order, you can do just about anything with color, and that’s the main theme that I’ve learned from my father.” 

A year ago, Robbie was still developing his craft by focusing on replicating what he saw in nature, as opposed to interpreting it. But since then, his paintings have significantly evolved. 

“Since last year, I have made a lot of progress in my understanding of color and shape and design, to the point where I can choose most any photo and then make it a pleasing painting. And that’s really opened up my world because I don’t have to have the perfect reference photo. I can pull from these little glimpses of an experience like the winter painting in our show. It was just an impulsive snapshot on top of a Colorado ski mountain, and I was able to use that reference photo to do a 36x48 painting, so that pursuit of replication before interpretation has really benefited my work,” he says. “This year, I learned how to exaggerate truth to excite the viewer. I'm looking at nature, and I see there’s a color progression or a value progression towards something, so I will go and I will exaggerate that … to make a scene exciting, and that’s visible within this new body of work.”

His dad agrees, saying that Robbie has grown in how he handles the paint, simplifies a subject and identifies relationships within a painting.

“He’s able to grasp those subtle relationships that make for a richer viewing experience,” Robert says. “He is much more accurate than he was a year ago, plus his surface is more interesting than it was a year ago. A lot of it is because he’s very diligent, and he’s a hard worker. He’s been able to reap the harvest from his past year of work, and his growth is quite noticeable.”

In addition to hard work, part of his development comes from slowing down in his daily life and cultivating joy by observing and finding something extraordinary in the ordinary.

This weekend’s show features about 13 new paintings from Robert and 12 new paintings from Robbie, primarily Colorado scenes, ranging from summer lakes to fall and winter vistas. Though the two artists live in Idaho, they’ve had an abundance of shared experiences adventuring in the mountains of Colorado — some even involve skiing with Brian Raitman.

Their love of the mountains — and adventures — translate onto the canvas.

“While I’m painting, I’m exploring the mountains and I’m climbing the mountains and I’m creating a playable kind of landscape,” Robbie says. “I start with: How dynamic can I make the silhouette and how can it complement the rest of the composition and then within that, it’s creating little nests for snow to sit within the rugged rocks. From there, it’s just a kind of algorithmic rendering of all the chaos of all the little rocks and tying it all together with snow and then lighting and shadows. It’s just an exciting process of exploring the landscape.”

He hopes his landscapes remind viewers of their most inspiring memories in nature.

“Nature is the setting in which I have shared memories with some of the people I love most,” he says. “For me, nature is more about eliminating distractions in order to be fully present with the people I love most.”