It's been awhile..

June 17, 2010
Sorry, that it has been awhile, things do get hectic sometimes. Both my wife and I have been very busy. Plus, Claudia is the one to create(type)the blog and she broke her upper arm and she wasn't able to type for a long time. Now she is healed and it is summer (she teaches art) so she has time to type the blog.

After the Storm

After enduring a storm near Suppesville, KS driving back from Wichita, KS the storm clouds gave way to a beautiful sunset. The setting sun gave a beautiful hue to the landscape and the sky reflected in the numerous puddles that were left by the storm. Thank goodness, we had the camera to take numerous pictures of the sunset. Then back in the studio I painted "After the Storm" from the photographs, it is a 20x24 oil painting.

Standing Tall

"Standing Tall" is a 10x8 plein air painting out in Colorado. It was fall time in Colorado and the dark pine tree was standing tall amongst the fall grasses and the smaller trees.

Artists that painted the October 10, 2009 OPA Paint Out with David Vollbracht

Oil Painters of America Paint Out In Medicine Lodge, KS - October 10,2009

The above artists braved the unseasonably cold weather for the OPA Paint Out in Medicine Lodge, KS: Cally Krallman-Topeka, KS, Kim Casebeer – Kansas City, KS, David DeArmond – Kansas City, KS, Mark Lemon – Eagle, Colorado and David Vollbracht, Medicine Lodge, KS.

Other Pictures from the OPA Paint Out - 2009



Mark Lemon from Eagle,Colorado painting by a tree to block the wind



Cally Krallman from Topeka, KS arrived the day before the Paint Out to paint with Kim Casebeer, Kansas City, KS and David Vollbracht, Medicine Lodge,KS. The day was a sunny warm day in the Gyp Hills unlike the freezing weather the next day.



Kim Casebeer from Kansas City, KS painting the day before the OPA Paint Out

OPA Paint Out - October 10, 2009

David Vollbracht, OPA - Painting the Gyp Hills

Oil Painters of America Paint Out
On Saturday, October 10th, five artists braved the cold, dreary weather to oil paint en plein air (outdoors) at several locations in the Gyp Hills. Another eight artists cancelled due to the cold weather and other circumstances. The painting event was hosted by David Vollbracht, a signature member of OPA. The Oil Painters of America or OPA is a national organization to promote representational and impressionistic oil painting. There are only 200 oil painters out of around 3000 members, which have been accepted by jury to be a signature member. The artists did not need to be members of OPA to participate but they did need to have the desire to paint outdoors in any kind of weather.
The artists met at Caroline Norton’s studio on Main Street for donuts, coffee cake and coffee provided by the Peoples Bank of Medicine Lodge. The artists started around 9 a.m. and painted in two locations in the Gyp Hills owned by Cody Miller and Bob Larson. The artists painted around two to three paintings, ending around 3 p.m. due to the extreme cold weather. All the artists that participated were very surprised about the beauty of the Gyp Hills, and want to come back when the weather is warmer.
The artists that braved the unseasonably cold weather were: Cally Krallman-Topeka, KS, Kim Casebeer – Kansas City, KS, David DeArmond – Kansas City, KS, Mark Lemon – Eagle, Colorado and David Vollbracht, Medicine Lodge, KS.

Kansas Masters Invitational Show

The Kansas Masters Invitational Show is at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery at Manhattan, Kansas and the exhibit will open August 21, 2009. "Enduring the Storm" 16x20 depicts an approaching thunderstorm over the historic Lower Fox Creek School in the Tallgrass National Preserve. When I was painting "Enduring the Storm" my thoughts were not only of the physical storm above the school area but the fiscal storm that is overtaking education in Kansas today.

This exhibit will benefit the Kansas Park Trust, which, along with the Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service, maintains and operates the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Tallgrass prairie once covered 400,000 square miles of North America. Less than 4 % remains, mostly in the Flint Hills of Kansas. On November 12, 1996, legislation created the 10,894 acre preserve, which protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem and ensures that current and future generations can share in its beauty and culture.

"Quiet Afternoon" 24"x20" $2,800 - Completed in 2008, depicts the grandeur of a summer afternoon in the Rocky Mountain National Park. This painting was accepted into the Paint the Parks: Top 100 oil paint exhibition that will travel the United States;starting at the Kolb gallery at the Grand Canyon National park. I was excited to know that I got both my oil paintings that I submitted into both the Top 100 and the Top 50 mini show, it was a great honour.