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Original pointillism acrylic painting “Sound of Silence” by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

During my tenure living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska, I made numerous research trips to the coastal town of Valdez located about 100 miles south of Copper Center. This is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in Alaska, with hundreds of miles of fjords, and glaciers scattered along the rugged coastline of Prince William Sound. Many times I was disappointed by low clouds and bad weather, but often I was greeted by a stunning landscape similar to the scene depicted in the original painting “Sound of Silence”. Not such a bad place to spend a day at work.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska coastal landscape paintings

“Mountain Home” miniature original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

Another from my series of log homes and flowers derived from my field research in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska’s interior. What impressed me the most about this yard is the huge, neatly stacked cords of firewood. Most of these wilderness dwellings heat with wood and haul water, not such a bad way to live considering the price of fuel today. I added a snow studded mountain peak to create a perfect idyllic environment.

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Gail Niebrugge, wilderness artist

It is so rewarding to see tender new shoots emerge through the soil in my vegetable garden.  I planted snap pea seeds about two weeks ago and they are ready to grow.  Last week I planted carrot seeds, beet seeds, and turnip seeds.  In a few weeks the garden should be growing well.  Tomorrow I will plant starts of squash, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts, as well as seed potatoes.  We should be eating very well from the garden by mid August.

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Alaska Landscape Artist, Gail Niebrugge

We spent the biggest part of Memorial Day weekend building additional raised beds for our vegetable garden.  These will be big enough to grow potatoes.  I’m hoping I’ll find time this summer to finish my cobblestone path in the foreground.  It has been a cool spring, I’m waiting to put my vegetable starts in the ground……maybe tomorrow.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

I’m greatly skeptical that this Rednecked Grebe nest will be productive. It is ten feet from our dock between our neighbor’s dock and float plane. It is just about as busy a place you can find. The birds abandon the nest when we use the dock and are very agitated. Silly birds, a quiet cove is 50′ away. I think I’m going to call this couple the “Dumb Ones”, they chose the spot because an underwater log gave them an easy perch.

One egg already resides in the new nest.

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Gail Niebrugge, wildlife artist

“Gardening” original acrylic/watercolor painting on rag board sold, mini prints signed by the artist are available.

Another original painting from my series of rural Alaska cabins and flowers, this one includes part of a well-tended vegetable garden which is a staple in most yards. The biggest threat to any garden, in the wilderness or city alike, are moose who stomp, trample, and eat most everything in sight. For some reason they don’t seem to like the leafy tops of potato plants.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

Original painting “Flower Wagon” acrylic/watercolor on rag board, sold.

Flowers abound throughout Alaska during the summer. The combination of long hours of sunlight, warm temperatures, and the urge to enjoy the out-of-doors creates the perfect environment for Alaskan’s to excel at gardening. This painting is part of an early series of miniatures of rural cabins and flowers in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of interior Alaska.

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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower art

“Crocus Center” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Another miniature painting of the wildflower Crocus. I am fascinated by the beautiful brilliant center, and cast shadows. It is also referred to as the Pasque Flower, or Spring Crocus and can be found in late May and early June in dry or sandy soil in the interior of Alaska. Perfect for my yard which is along the shores of the Copper River in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of the interior of Alaska. Spring lasts two and a half weeks, a short time window to see this wildflower.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildflower artist

I see a lot of crazy activities on our lake, but this one takes the cake! Fourteen people standing on a wooden deck outfitted with an outboard motor and paddles! And, none of them wearing life jackets, not even the little kids. It has only been two weeks since the ice went out so the water is quite cold. Anyone accidentally falling in could be in trouble. This group was heading back to the boat launch late in the evening, about 10:00PM when I caught this photo.

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Gail Niebrugge, Wilderness Artist

Enjoying fabulous spring weather, we sat on son Ron’s porch enjoying the incredible view eating chips and salsa last weekend in Seward, Alaska. Day’s like this are what living in Alaska is all about.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Every time I visit Seward I’m always amazed and astonished at how industrious and hard working the people in the community are, always giving of their time and talent to make the town a better place to live.  Last week hundreds of volunteers labored under the guidance of professional playground designers to buid an incredible playground next to the skateboard park along the waterfront in Seward.  Along with this activity, they also held a dedication ceremony for artist Dot Bardarson’s beautiful mural that is located on the north side of the AvTec building.  This city should be proud of itself!  Kudos to Seward, Alaska!

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

“Crocus with Corm” original acrylic and watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

The wildflower spring Crocus is fun to study, it is covered with silky hairs. I spent quite a bit of time trying to find a way to show this characteristic, and found the best approach was to illustrate it in back light. With the light directly behind the subject the hairs were illuminated and stood out against the silhouetted stem. And, it felt good lying almost face down in the warm dirt, surrounded by snow, doing my research.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildflower painting

“Crocus with Insect” original watercolor and acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

With the first bloom of the season soon arrive insects, thus beginning the cycle of life. I will never cease to be amazed that bugs return every year, another miracle of nature. From a cold, dark, frozen, seeming wasteland a delicate flower pushes through the first spot of warm earth and an insect materializes out of nowhere. I stand in awe, and can only paint what I see, and know, and understand. And, sometimes I really don’t understand, I just accept.

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Gail Niebrugge, Wildflower art

“Crocus” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

This is one of a series of miniature paintings of the wildflower Crocus from my yard in Copper Center, in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness of Alaska. As soon as these flowers appear, spring is on the way and summer is near.

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Gail Niebrugge, paintings of wildflowers

I spent the evening twilight hours on Mother’s Day sitting on our dock in 45mph winds, chilled to the bone, keeping my photographer son Ron company during a photo shoot.  It was absolutely fun watching him shoot professional photos of the resident muskrat.  He is really blessed, while he was photographing the muskrat a Common Loon made a rare appearance and swam within 10′ of the dock!  Nothing pleases me more as a mom than to share my life with my children, and to be included in their lives.  Ron’s wife, Janine, and my husband, Bob, stayed warm inside our house watching us with the spotting scope and chatted with us via walkie talkie.  They are the “support crew” for both of us and treasured, neither of us could excel in our chosen professions without their help.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildlife artist

“First Color” original watercolor and acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

I will never forget the first time I saw the wildflower Crocus. It was spring in our new house in Copper Center, Alaska. The front yard (forest) faced south with a sloping dirt bank down to the road. I was out inspecting the yard, tromping through snow, and discovered a snow-free spot on the south facing earthen embankment. It felt good to sit down and feel dirt again, after a bitterly cold winter, I relaxed and leaned back against a log and watched a Bald Eagle circle overhead. Summer was on the way! Rolling over I was startled to see a purple blossom about the shape of an egg, barely poking out of the ground! Searching the rest of the area I was elated to find a group of six of these wildflowers all together, and later learned that they were called Crocus. It became a ritual to visit that spot every spring and be greeted by the miracle of these hearty, wildflowers. They became my next focus of attention to study and paint.

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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower ar5t

“Fire in the Woodpile” original pen and ink and watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

The small kindling woodpile by the back door is almost invisible in the summer, smothered by tall weeds and swathed in fireweed. Stuff gets lost there, a bucket, a prize piece of wood, and things that are temporarily set on top then fall off. This wild spot at the back of the cabin is where I first learned about all of the stages of fireweed.

In the beginning I love the brilliant fuchsia-colored blooms that appear, then I begin to expect them to be there every day. They need no tending and last almost six weeks. After the blossoms fade long pods form, turn red, then split spewing a white fluffy cotton. It is a fascinating looking plant at this stage, surrounded by its rich green leaves. Within a few weeks the leaves progress from green to all shades of red and yellow, and the split pods shrivel brown, begin to curl, and tangle in the cottony down. Soon the air is full of white fuzz, fireweed seed sowed by the wind. And, the woodpile with its hidden treasure is exposed. Finally enough is enough, I quit watching and sat down on the ground with pen and ink and watercolor and painted “Fire in the Woodpile”.

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Gail Niebrugge, watercolor painting

“Fireweed IV” original watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Back to my series on living and painting in the wilderness of the Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska. This looks like fireweed laying on snow, but in reality I plucked some dried branches for decoration and kept them in my studio during the winter. Tidying up one day, I removed the dehydrated weeds from their home in a jar and tossed them temporarily on my drafting table. Turning on the drafting light I became fascinated with the patterns and cast shadows made by the dried plant. Nothing would suffice but to sit down and immediately paint what I saw. At the final stage of fireweed, nothing remains but the withered brown leaves and curled, twisted split pods. Still beautiful. An intriguing wildflower. Hours later I realized that my housecleaning project stalled at dusting the shelf. Cleaning can wait, I have paintings to make!
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Gail Niebrugge, wildflower painter

We started preparing for the Alaska State Fair in Palmer early this year, we plan to move outside the noisy, hot, crowded Raven Hall into a booth of our own.  Our Niebrugge Studio booth is 10′x20′ with 10′ walls, plenty of room to hang framed artwork.  It is fun to watch professional carpenters work, they are so fast!  It would have taken Bob and I all summer to do what they did in two days.

The electrician finished the rough wiring today, so the inside walls will go up this week, along with the roof and external siding.  We will have double opening doors on the front with a ramp.  My next mission is to get some signs made and to select light fixtures.  Bob says he will build the counter and print bins.  Good thing we started early, we may be painting the exterior during the fair!

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Our resident muskrat was busy yesterday swimming back and forth in the cove while its mate scratched and dug in the dried grasses and thawing mud along shore. One time he swam straight toward me as I sat on the dock then disappeared underneath. The Mallard duck curiously eyes the feisty muskrat as it stops at nothing to get where it is going, cutting any creature off who might be in the way.

Here he is swimming rapidly toward me just before ducking under the dock.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist