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Yesterday an early Spring snow storm snarled traffic and caused endless accidents on the Glenn Highway from Palmer to Anchorage, and I was committed to give a power point presentation to the Alaska Watercolor Society in the evening.  We packed up the new Apple Macbook Pro and Optoma65 digital projector with my first ever power point presentation using Keynote, a part of iWork software, and carefully drove through the highway wreckage for the meeting.  I must admit, after endless hours of scanning old slides of early artwork, and tedious color correcting in Photoshop CS3, I thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of new technology for my presentation.  I am pictured in our driveway on our return, standing next to our car caked with ice and covered with salt from the ice melt used on roads.  It is 9:30PM and still light outside.  Another day in the life of an artist in Alaska.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

“Gakona School” 36″ x 48″ original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, commissioned by the Alaska Per Cent for Art program for the new Gakona Elementary school in the Copper River School District.

This tiny K-6 elementary school is located in a scenic valley along the Copper River, in the Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska. The faculty wanted the painting to show the original school house, the landscape, the new school, and student activities. I spent several days during school hours watching, observing, sketching and taking photographs to use as reference material to help formulate a composition. It became clear that the painting had to be a montage (a composite of different images in one painting). I included the historic bridge over the Gakona River near the school, and the landscape with the Copper River and the Wrangell Mountains from the top of the bluffs overlooking the school. It was a fun project and I gained a great deal of respect for rural teachers who teach multiple grades. The students were happy and kept busy with a variety of activities. My painting captured a moment in time in this small wilderness community.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness painter

“Saving Lives in the Wilderness” 24″ x 36″ original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge.  Alaska Per Cent for Art program commission for the Command Center of Elmendorf Air Force Base Medical Center, Alaska.

This commission was a challenge. My first thoughts were to paint a familiar landscape capturing the beauty of Alaska, but the art selection committee had other ideas. They wanted a painting showing a medical evacuation using military aircraft. To assist with my research, I attended the war games at the Anchorage Air Force Base, and documented the entire evacuation training using the giant C130’s and support helicopters. It was overwhelming, I took rolls and rolls of film and accompanied a mock-medical evacuation flight as a passenger inside a C130. My head was spinning, how could I show this important part of the Air Force mission in a pleasing, interesting, yet authentic way?

I reviewed of all the airports that were large enough to handle a C130, and realized that I had several problems. One, I didn’t have any decent reference material of the major Alaska airstrips, and second I wanted something in a beautiful setting, something that represented the true Alaska. It occurred to me that the airstrip at McCarthy was certainly large enough, and I just happened to have some photo research of the airstrip during the fall season. The background mountains were beautifully lit by the evening sun creating a gorgeous light. Combining the military camouflage uniforms and the fall landscape made the composition interesting and I was able to use pleasing colors. In the end, everyone was satisfied, and I was greatly relieved!

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Gail Niebrugge, painter of the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness

“The Kennicotts; Copper and Ice” 15″ x 28″ original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge commissioned for the Alaska State Ferry M/V Kennicott by Susan Knowles for the Governors Gift.

The wife of Alaska Governor Tony Knowles, Susan, commissioned a painting to become part of the permanent collection of the new state ferry that was named M/V Kennicott in honor of the historic Kennicott region of the Wrangell-St. Elias. I wanted to show both the Kennicott Glacier and the historic Kennicott copper mill, so I created a montage and combined both images.

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Gail Niebrugge, Kennicott artist of Alaska

“First Return” original acrylic and watercolor painting in pointillism by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Every spring I watch and wait, listening for the first sounds of the trumpeter swan as they return to the Wrangell-St. Elias in the Copper River Basin. This region is home to one of the largest populations of nesting trumpeter swan in the nation. They often return to the same location, so I know where to keep watch. These two swans are fastidiously preening their feathers, a ritual that takes place many times a day. I record activity, dates, times, and places in my journal and make quick sketches with notes in my sketch book. My camera has become one of the major tools for gathering reference material, but nothing can replace personal knowledge and observation. Painting from someone else’s photograph is no substitute for a complete understanding of the subject. A lifetime is not long enough to paint everything of beauty that I see in Alaska.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska watercolor painter

“The Wrangells from Willow” original acrylic painting in pointillism by Gail Niebrugge. Original sold, posters available on my website and at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center, Copper Center, Alaska.

The Richardson Highway runs south of Copper Center and sports a lovely pull-out along the shore of Willow Lake. If the sky is clear, it is a fabulous place to see the Wrangell Mountain range. From this vantage point the mountains from left to right are; Mt. Drum, Mt. Sanford, and the active volcano Mt. Wrangell. This is another of my favorite places to watch the mountains. The Wrangell-St. Elias is a spectacular wilderness, and is where I am blessed to be able to paint.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness painter

Photo of me standing by my Cessna 170B, nicknamed “Charlie”, at the wilderness dirt air strip in Copper Center, Alaska. I flew during the winter at first but soon gave it up.  Without a hangar for storage the preparation to fly in the extreme cold is extensive. The night before flying, a small oil heater is placed inside the engine compartment and a blanket wrapped around the cowling. The wings are swept clear of snow and fitted with covers. Charlie wasn’t equipped with skis, so my flying was limited to plowed airstrips. I soon became a fair weather pilot and eventually found that chartering flights was much more efficient for art research exploration.

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Gail Niebrugge, wilderness Alaska artist

“Ice Field” original acrylic and watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Piloting my own single engine Cessna along the lower elevations of the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska, worked fine until I became so fascinated with the subjects outside the windshield that I would forget to fly. It soon became clear that to obtain the best reference material for use in future paintings, I needed someone else to be pilot. Thus began a three decade relationship with every kind of aviator and aircraft in the region. Some were the best, and others were worse than worse. I have had almost every experience possible, except a crash. Somehow, I have always been spared. Many of my friends have died in accidents in the Wrangells, these mountains and their unpredictable weather seem to swallow up life. Nevertheless, I keep going, and flying, and painting them. This painting is from an aerial perspective of an ice field part way up the active volcano Mt. Wrangell.

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Gail Niebrugge, wilderness artist

“Wrangell Mountains” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

There is a special spot along the Richardson Highway south of Copper Center where I can sit at the top of the bluff and watch my favorite subject, Mt. Drum. I have intimate knowledge of the shrubs and trees surrounding my secret place, and know all about the comings and goings of wildlife and waterfowl as they visit the clear water slough in the drainage below. Beyond the slough is the raging, glacier-fed, muddy Copper River. I cannot count the many, many hours I’ve spent here waiting for the clouds to rise above the opposite ridge to finally reveal my mountain! It usually happens late in the day, near sunset, sometime around midnight during summer. This painting is the result of one of my happy, quiet, successful stays.

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Gail Niebrugge, original paintings of Alaska

“Drum and Sanford” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

One of the most interesting features of Mt. Drum is the huge bowl on the south side from a volcanic eruption about 150,000 years ago when the top and south side were destroyed. It is the youngest volcano in the Wrangell Mountain volcanic field. Snider Peak is the sharp craggy summit on the left. One of my favorite routes to fly in my single engine Cessna is to circle the base of Mt. Drum at different elevations. One time I flew over the top, and at an elevation of 12,500 ft. I could glide all the way back to the air strip in Copper Center. My affection for this peak is unequaled, and it shows in my paintings. The summit of Mt. Sanford is visible in the background from this position south of Copper Center.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, wilderness Alaska painter