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“River Gold” original painting acrylic/watercolor on rag paper in pointillism by Gail Niebrugge. Original painting sold, prints sold out.

As fall approaches the temperatures drop and slow the melting of glaciers. The rivers no longer rage with muddy water bank to bank, sandbars and rocky shores appear making it easy to walk along the riverside. Channels and shallow sloughs dry up or become quiet pools, places to see reflections and watch tossed stones create ripples. Paper Birch, Willow, Alder, and Cottonwood leaves shatter the tranquility when lit by the sun, with blinding, shimmering, flourescent colors of gold, yellow, orange, and ochre. I do not miss the fish that are now gone and the empty fishwheel because I am completely occupied with the colors of the Copper River in the fall.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Fishwheel” original painting acrylic on canvas by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

After a year of renting strange and poorly insulated mobile homes we built a solid frame home of our own on an acre near the Copper River. During summer I walk the trail through Birch and Cottonwood trees to the rocky shore of the river where the handmade Fishwheel quietly turns in the current, scooping salmon with its chicken wire baskets and depositing them into the wooden box that is attached alongside. An ingenious, efficient way to gather enough fish to sustain a family during the winter.

Every day the fish box is emptied, the fish gutted and cleaned, their heads and entrails thrown back into the river to feed the Bald Eagles and occasional bear. Fresh salmon fillets are vaccuum sealed and frozen, smoked and canned, or roasted on the Bar-B-Q and eaten immediately. It is a good life.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Rhubarb” acrylic original painting by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

This painting won the Knickerbocker Award for Transparent Watercolor at the Knickerbocker Artists 36th Annual Open Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, in 1986. I painted it from my neighbors garden in Copper Center, Alaska. With the continuous summer sunlight vegetables grow to huge sizes, and gardens are lush and plentiful. Funny, when I entered this painting in the All Alaska Juried Competition the visiting juror from Los Angeles commented that he wanted to see subjects that were very Alaskana, and not something you could find anywhere. Little did he know.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Copper Centers Past” original acrylic painting with pallette knife by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

One of the great charms of the small village of Copper Center, Alaska, is the visible remains of historic log dwellings scattered about in a field of fireweed. I spent many hours standing with my easel in this beautiful wildflower garden painting various scenes of these log buildings. On my recent visit as Artist-in-Residence of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park I noticed that most of these treasures had fallen to the ground and were becoming part of the earth again. It is locations like this that inspired us to take up residencey in this region, spurning the comfortable life we lead in Southern California. And now, these places are nearly extinct. What a privilege it is to have been able to live, love and paint these sites.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Snowshoe Habitat” original painting acrylic on canvas by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

Outside Caribou Cabin, next to the Klutina River, was the bunkhouse and woodpile. The bunkhouse was clearly a summer use cabin, the chinking between the thin vertical logs was all but gone. Oddly, to me it was an attractive structure and I painted several versions of it from my easel outdoors plein air. This particular version was inspired by two things; the tree shadow designs cast across the bunkhouse logs and roof, and the snowshoe hare that kept disappearing and reappearing from the woodpile. What doesn’t show is the crisp, cold late afternoon autumn temperatures that drove me inside after freezing my fingers and turning my brushes into icicles after being dipped in water.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Airtight” pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

During our brief tenure in the Caribou Cabin we learned the art of keeping the woodstove drafted and banked. After a few months we moved to a place that had an oil burning furnace, or we would have frozen to death that winter. The cabin wasn’t chinked tightly, or made for winter living, it was a summer place. Even with the airtight burning red hot I felt a chill when the wind blew as it crept through the cracks in the logs and caused the curtains inside to blow horizontal. We nicknamed the woodstove the “Airloose” because most of the fittings were no longer snug, we often saw flames through the seams and the smoke stack would randomly belch into the room.

Nonetheless, it was a marvelous subject to sketch and draw and I spent many hours using the stove and surrounding objects as still-life subject matter.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Caribou Cabin” original acrylic painting with pallete knife by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

Fall arrives rapidly in the Copper River Valley, by the first week of September the landscape is ablaze in full color. Our Southern California upbringing did not prepare us for the rapid change of temperatures that happen in this region. The camper van was no longer a suitable home so we quickly moved into the only building available for rent, Caribou Cabin perched on a beautiful plot of land alongside the Klutina River.

I painted many scenes of places in this community during my summer and fall in the cabin. It was a cramped quarters for the four of us and served only as a temporary residence until we found something larger and better insulated. But, my heart is still there and I have many good memories of that quaint, rugged abode. The subsistence lifestyle was a huge amount of work and did not appeal to me, we all yearned for running water, electricity, and an operating furnace. It is amazing how simple your needs become when you have so little, and how frivolous we become when we have too much.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Flying High” acrylic on canvas original painting by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

During our first summer in Copper Center we learned that most residents lived a subsistence life-style, they burned wood for heat, had no running water, bathroom facilities consisted of an outhouse and a large galvanized tub for bathing. We lived that way for awhile, it was a great adventure but not something that I wanted to continue.

On the other hand, I was fascinated by the hand-made log cabins surrounded by the wildflower Fireweed, flanked by outbuildings and yards scattered with remnants of old vehicles saved for spare parts. Visually I was drawn to paint these scenes of rural dwellings. Many were done plein air, but most were painted from my direct research in the field and completed indoors. I was consumed by painting and in love with my subject matter.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Copper River Country” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

In 1976 my children, my husband and I lived in a nice home one acre in the rural community of Lakeside, San Diego, California. I worked as a Graphic Artist for the Grossmont High School District, my husband worked as an Aerospace Engineer for General Dynamics. We were growing disenchanted with the rapid growth and fast-paced lifestyle of Southern California and took a summer vacation to Copper Center, Alaska, to visit friends.

Our time in this incredible, wilderness community was so enriching and enjoyable that we extended our vacation to experience a winter. It has been 31 years since that summer, and we’ve never gone back to California except to visit. Our experiences with re-locating and establishing a home in this remote environment would fill a book. Looking back it is interesting to see that I created paintings during these years that give a personal glimpse into the contemporary history, landscape, lifestyle, way-of-life, wildlife, flora and fauna of this region. Each day I will post a blog and a painting from this period. Let me know your impressions of my online journal.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Years ago I was asked by The Artist’s Magazine to write an article about painting with watercolor and acrylic.  The article was popular and was later reprinted in Italian.  People ask me to explain the process all the time. I posted the article on my website so that it will be available for easy reference and hopefully help others with their experimentation in combining mediums. Click on this link to read the article “The Best of Both Media” .  Let me know if you have questions or comments.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The Crevasse Moraine Trail system during the last part of June is alive with mosquitoes! We tried the trail a week earlier and spent most of our time waving our arms and swatting the pesky insects as they formed a parade behind our heads and coated the back of our jackets, climbed up our pants legs and pretty much ruined the hike. Insect spray workd for awhile, but after we break a sweat it seems nothing works. So, this time we used headnets. I look like a creature from outer space with my jacket around my waist and my headnet askew. It was o.k., but we decided that we’d stay above tree line during this period next year. I’m looking forward to hiking here in August when the fireweed is in full bloom and the bugs are gone. We took the 2 mile trail to Long Lake this day, it is well-maintained and has very pleasant up and down moraine ridges to keep from being monotonous.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist