The Steller sea lion in Alaska spend summer on exposed rocky outcroppings in traditional rookeries to breed and pup, and migrate to spend winters in protected areas. They are listed on the Endangered Species Act and the populations are on the increase since 1980. Adult sea lions are very big, anywhere from 700 pounds to well over a ton, and are very curious and fun to watch. Mini digital ink jet Giclee, “Acappella”, printed on acid free paper with fade resistant inks, matted with silver gray black core acid free mat and acid free back board 8″x10″, hand-signed by artist Gail Niebrugge, from an original watercolor/acrylic painting, $30.00 US. To order click on this link, or call Niebrugge Studio (907) 746-3256.

This pen and ink drawing of the Salty Dawg Saloon, a historic Alaska landmark located at the tip of the Homer Spit, is now available as a digital ink jet print on acid free paper with fade resistant ink, hand-signed by the artist Gail Niebrugge, size 8″x10″, $25.00 US. Gail employed many techniques with pen and ink including crosshatch, stipple, lines and scribbles to obtain the shapes and values in this drawing. To purchase please click on this link.

Cafe Cups is a charming, eclectic restaurant in Homer, Alaska. The front of the building is decorated with wild, whimsical cups, crazy memorabilia and mosaics of broken pottery. This charming black and white ink drawing of “Cafe Cups” is now available as a digital ink jet print, on acid free paper with fade resistant ink, size 8″x10″, hand-signed by the artist Gail Niebrugge, offered at $25.00 US. Gail used the techniques of crosshatch and stipple to create the shapes and values in this pen and ink drawing. Click on this link “Cafe Cups” to purchase.

During summer it is fun to run out into the garden and pluck fresh herbs and vegetables to use when preparing meals. My oregano returned this year, as did sweet basil, all planted last year from starts purchased from the nursery. I’m going to try other herbs next year. I usually plant herbs in pots next to the kitchen door, then toss them at the end of the season. Not anymore, they are hardy perennials and should return next year.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

My beets are flourishing, I love the color of the red veins snaking themselves through the bright green leaves. They have grown fast, compared to the photo of tiny sprouts I posted a few weeks ago. I can’t wait until the beets are mature enough to pull and eat, even now I’m harvesting some of the greens to use in salads. Yum! It has been fun this year to try new plants, and so far, so good.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Returning from our trip to Juneau and Skagway, Alaska, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the vegetables in my garden have grown. I spent the greater part of the next day harvesting broccoli, lettuce, parsley and radishes, pulling weeds, training the snap peas to cling to the trellises and watering using our spiffy new system pumping from the lake. I’m having pretty good luck with my plants so far this year. Now, I just hope the moose don’t find them.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan landscape artist

Gail tasting one of the many flavors of Alaskan Brewing Company beer at the Alaskan Brewing Company tasting room in Juneau, Alaska. One of the side benefits of traveling to new venues in search of research for subject matter for future paintings is the chance to visit some of our favorite businesses. After trying many (a few) new and different beers my choice is still Alaskan Amber, which coincidentally has been and still remains the best seller.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Bob and I waiting for our dinner at a table overlooking the Jewell Gardens in Poppies Restaurant, Skagway, Alaska. I am totally captivated by the gorgeous perennials and incredibly designed gardens at this historic location. The food is the best, fresh picked and cooked to perfection! My time spent finding research for future paintings was productive and rewarding.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska flower artist

We were amazed to find one of the most lush, beautiful perennial and vegetable gardens we’ve seen anywhere, in Skagway, Jewell Gardens is a must see for any visitor. I was especially fascinated by the fabulous vegetables, since I’m attempting to grow many of the same in my garden in Palmer. It was humbling to see the size of the plants at Jewell Gardens. The fresh vegetables supply the very popular Poppies restaurant located on the same site, and is visited by buses full of cruise ship passengers each day. We were fortunate to be given an hour all to ourselves to explore, photograph and relax in the gardens.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, painter of flowers

Next, we flew to the small historic town of Skagway, Alaska, where hoards of cruise ship passengers filled the tiny streets wandering to and fro, enjoying the well kept town. Here we are posing in front of an old building with carved wooden totems, the one on the left is a classic American folk art cigar store indian, and on the right is a colorful carved wooden totem pole representing the culture of the indians who dwell in Southwest Alaska. We behaved just like all the other tourists and helped strangers take photos of themselves, then asked them to use our camera to photo us. I was able to get help in locating useful material for future paintings by working with the Klondike Gold Rush Historic National Park Historian, Karl Gurcke. Thanks Karl!
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Painter of Alaska historic structures

We just returned from a research gathering trip to Juneau and Skagway, Alaska. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy, cool and gray, but I was still able to do a great deal of research for future paintings by changing my focus from the broad landscape to subjects up close and personal. Alaska is celebrating 50 years of statehood and the city of Juneau was adorned with banners and flags commemorating this event. The above photo pictures Bob on the porch of the Juneau City Museum standing below two 50 year celebration flags.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Change, change, change, why does everything have to keep changing?

I’ve had it easy, my daughter-in-law Janine built my website and has maintained it for me for many, many years. It was built using FrontPage software that is no longer made, and worse yet she is no longer available to work on my site. So I am on a quest to find someone who will convert it from FrontPage to current software and then help me learn to maintain and update so that new products will be current, calendar accurate, and news timely. The task seems daunting. I’ve been told that each page has to be re-coded because FrontPage will not convert directly to Dreamweaver. Then I ask, how long will Dreamweaver be a viable software?

The costs of keeping everything current sometime exceeds the income made from the product. I’ve always used a MacIntosh computer and have been through time consuming painful changes from PageMaker to Adobe CS2, and Microsoft Works to AppleWorks. What next? Can’t we see some standardization in the software industry or are they too greedy to make it easier for us?
This is tough for someone from the generation when T.V. was invented and phones were 10-party lines. This whole computer thing has kept me in a constant state of fear and dominated my time for way too many years now. Painting time has been replaced with computer work, updating databases, software conversions, larger and bigger memory, back-up external hard drives, scanning slides of previous paintings, color correcting in Photoshop, and power point presentations instead of slide shows. Endless computer work. But, thanks to the generosity and hard work of Janine, I’ve never had to bother my little head about how to maintain my website. Now, another learning curve.

Time to jump in and test the water, I hope it isn’t like the Polar Bear Jump in Seward in the middle of winter. Brrrrrr! But for some reason, I think it might be worse. I’m asking you, my readers, to keep up the good thoughts for me during this time of transition and learning.
Gail Niebrugge, professional artist and neophyte on the computer

“Cache” original acrylic painting using pointillism by Gail Niebrugge, Sold. Limited edition prints available.

This high rise cabin serves as a rustic food storage in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of the interior of Alaska. The tall stilt legs make it impossible for predators to eat the contents. Most remote dwellings use portable generators to power freezers and refrigerators today, so caches are used as yard ornaments and symbols of days gone by. When I painted this subject I chose to add blooming fireweed to the foreground, and a snow capped mountain to the background. The original cache stood in a bare dirt parking lot. As an artist I create a scene on the canvas, using photos only for reference.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

“Copper Center Lodge” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

I love the colors of the aging logs of this historic building against the backdrop of a cold, crisp fall afternoon. During my life in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of wilderness Alaska, the Copper Center Lodge was a frequent subject to paint because it was close, just down the road a little ways from my studio. Today the building is still host to tourists from all over the world during the busy summer season.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

“Copper Center Lodge” pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, Sold. Limited edition prints Sold Out.

This historic road house is still in operation today in Copper Center, Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska. Many years ago I did a series of pen and ink drawings of historic road houses and artifacts. They were made into limited edition prints and sold one-by-one to collectors who passed through Glennallen. Today all are long gone. Every now and then I get a call from someone searching for one of these historic prints, unfortunately I have no idea how to to find any.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, painter of Alaska historic sites

“Coppess Stove Co.” original drawing with pen and ink, and ink wash by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

This hand-made wood burning stove in a remote cabin in the Wrangell Mountains was a good subject to sketch while staying indoors one blustery cold morning. It even boasted a hand-made plaque engraved with the name of the builder. This cabin showed incredible pride of ownership. All the building materials were transported miles over rough terrain on sleds pulled by snow machine.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

“Al’s Kitchen” original pen and ink drawing with watercolor by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

Sketching still life subjects inside on location during inclement weather is a good way to pass the time and sharpen your drawing skills. I painted this piece while staying in a remote cabin in the Chugach Mountains in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The rustic kitchen was well stocked with cooking equipment, but the cabin got too hot when using the wood burning stove, so we cooked most of our meals out of doors over a campfire, rain or not.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

Original pen and ink drawing “Alaskan Gingerbread” by Gail Niebrugge, Sold.

I rarely sketch or paint plein air today, but in my early years in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska, I enjoyed drawing and painting on location. I made this ink drawing in the fall when temperatures hovered near freezing and the water on my pen nib often froze. What attracted me to this scene was the cast shadow from the moose antlers. Antlers are often used as architectural adornment in rural Alaska.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Wilderness Artist

“Each person has his own safe place-running, painting, swimming, fishing, weaving, gardening. The activity itself is less important than the act of drawing on your own resources.” (Barbara Gordon)

Our guide Jerry from Tri River Charters, Talkeetna, Alaska, cleaning roe from a female King Salmon caught by a member of our fishing party. After six hours of casting and lots of snags, I caught a much bigger male King from the fast moving water of the Talkeena River. Landing a fish is only part of the experience, the best part is being outdoors all day along the shores of an Alaskan wild river watching the water boil over rocks and swirl into eddies, and observing Bald Eagles soar and circle overhead seeking food. I am not as agile as I once was, but I soon figured out how to wade up and down the steep shore, stumbling occasionally over underwater rocks hidden by the silty water, and managed to land my fish as it fought hard against my line in the strong current. I’d forgotten about the adrenalin rush. My knees were wobbly, legs and arms shaking with excitement. How I love to fish! And, nothing tastes better than fresh King Salmon from the Bar-B-Que.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

Scattered about my perennial garden next to the front porch are lots of iris, among them are a few white ones.  I enjoy the spots of white among the riot of bright colors of the other plants.  Iris are one of my favorite flowers, and the blue/purple ones grow wild in Alaska.  They have been the subject of many of my paintings.

Gail Niebrugge, wildflower artist