Growing up on the beaches of Southern California, riding horses, and hiking the trails in Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains, Charisse Rudolph grew up with a love of horses and nature. 

Beginning with showmanship at hand and Western riding, she competed throughout her childhood.  When she hit her teens her mother said, “It’s time to learn English riding." Charisse wasn’t too happy about that but soon loved the thrill of hunters and jumpers. She competed for many years and had a wall of ribbons and silver trophies that she won.

Amazing Grace 40x30 Alcohol Ink.

Along with horses, she spent her earliest years drawing and painting the things she loved most. Charisse always knew that art and animals were her direction in life.

Charisse lives on a small ranch in the Mountains of California with three horses, chickens, a pig named Benny, and a few dogs and cats. In her home studio she paints the heart connection she has experienced with her equine partners.

She is all things artistic. Her grandfather was the original Tarzan in silent films and in her early years she was a commercial actress. In addition, Charisse has written and illustrated several books, writes lyrics for country songs, and she loves to facilitate drum circles.  

In school Charisse accelerated in art. She took every class she could take experimenting with a variety of styles and artistic forms. In college she took classes to teach children art and when she founded her nonprofit Healing Horses & Armed Forces, she learned how to use art therapeutically to help veterans returning from war. 

A Mothers Love 26x30 Alcohol Ink.

In 2018, she dramatically changed her medium and style from realism to bright, vibrant, colorful, contemporary paintings. She soon realized that the heart connection between animal species, and animals and humans was the subject matter she was most passionate about painting. 

That heart connection was the main therapeutic service she had offered veterans who were in transition after the Iraq and Afghanistan war. After her nonprofit closed, she published a book about how horses and the heart connection can transform people’s lives called, “The Art of Facilitation with 28 Equine Assisted Activities.”

I Understand 22x22 Alcohol Ink.

Her technique is totally unique, and her paintings are one of a kind. When she stumbled upon alcohol ink and yupo paper, she committed herself to learning how to control the uncontrollable. With alcohol ink and yupo paper you must learn to go with the flow because the ink often goes in unexpected directions which is just like life. 

Charisse belongs to the Inyo /Mono County Arts Council, the Tehachapi Valley Arts Association, and she was an art docent for the round valley school district. She has won several awards for her paintings and has been featured in the Xanadu Art Gallery Catalog where you can see her work online. She is in the Sorrel Gallery Library for corporate clients and has attended several art shows throughout the years. In addition, she was a featured artist at Crossroads Gallery in 2010, and the guest Artist in March of 2021 at Gallery N Gifts in Tehachapi, CA. Charisse was accepted to Art Santa Fe in 2020, and participated at the LA Art Show in 2021. Keep your eyes out for her at Art Santa Fe in 2022 as well.

Me and You 22x24 Alcohol Ink.

Charisse strives to show the world in a different light. Her vibrant colors and subject matter make people smile. At the different shows where she has exhibited her art people have told her that they feel love and joy when they look at her art. Charisse truly is an artist with heart. That is why she has been coined the “Heartist”.

To see more of this ageless cowgirl’s impressive art, go to: www.charissefineart.com