Theodore Waddell's sophisticated modernist paintings have attracted widespread recognition. A cattle rancher who lives on the Musselshell River northwest of Billings, Waddell most often paints freely-rendered range animals roaming the vast plains of Eastern Montana.
 
In 1982 Waddell did exhibit a group of his paintings of cattle and landscapes in the sales arena at the Billings livestock auction yard. Soon after, a curator from the Corcoran Gallery of Art came to town, looking for artists to include in a painting biennial, the Second Western State Exhibition; Waddell's paintings were among those chosen. His work was singled out in reviews by the Washington Post and The New York Times, and were the subject of a Newsweek article. His career was launched. The exhibit traveled to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.