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We drove home from our Thanksgiving at Girdwood, to Palmer, Alaska, on black Friday in a blizzard. Above is the view from the window of our room at the Alyeska Prince Hotel before we began our drive. The drive was fine as long we kept our speed around 40mph, the defrost on high, and the wipers on warp speed our 4-wheel drive SUV with studded tires navigated the un-plowed roads fairly well.

This is the scene at our studio/residence when we returned. I love new fallen snow, even though it makes driving a hazard, the landscape is stunning.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

Thanksgiving was beautiful, fresh snow at the Girdwood ski resort, and turkey with all the fixings at my daughter’s condo. We enjoyed our time with the grandchildren.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

I’ve changed the direction of the diagonal lines in the lower third of the painting and began to add mid value dots. I’m still focusing only on the lower part of the painting, only a single value of dots has been applied to the green ridges in the top third. Everything is subject to major changes and modifications at this stage of the work.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska painter

At this stage I’m continuing to add dark colored dots to the lower half of the painting, the bushes near the bottom have not been painted and will be completed during final details just before the finish. The same is true for the wolf figure. I’m establishing the patterns of the darkest shapes in the painting at this point.

Gail Niebrugge, wildlife artist

After studying the rough wash underpainting I made the decision to reduce the size of the wolf image, it seemed too big and dominated the landscape. I want it to blend in and be hard to discern in the finished work. At this stage I’ve begun to layer the darkest value dots along the lower third of the painting and have not painted the wolf image. The composition needs work, the diagonal lines draw the eye off the lower right hand of the picture plane. This is easily adjusted with values and a slight adjustment to the diagonal lines.

Gail Niebrugge, Denali artist

Tearing down our booth Sunday night at the Denai’na Center, Anchorage, Alaska, was a joy and a breeze. We are treated like spoiled kids by Bill Webb and the staff of the Anchorage Markets and Festivals, the show promoter. Since we are one of the slowest to pack-up, the huge building is nearly empty when we are ready to load. We were allowed to drive our car and cargo trailer inside, where it is warm and comfortable, and pack up our stuff. This is a wonderful show and a joy to participate in the beautiful new convention hall, the crown jewel in the city of Anchorage.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Our booth was ready to go by mid-afternoon Friday, the set-up is really easy at the Denai’na Convention Center in downtown Anchorage. About 50% of the booths were built by the time we left and when we return in the morning the place will be packed and busy, ready to open at 10:00AM. This Arts and Crafts show is the biggest event of the year and an excellent place to do Holiday shopping. All vendors are required to make their own products, you will find none of the made in China stuff that can be found in a lot of other shows. The highlight in our booth is the huge (40″ x 50″) canvas giclee of “Wing Dancing” printed from my original painting showing the Sandhill Cranes in the mating dance. See you this weekend!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

I’ve studied the research material from my Artist-in-Residence in Denali National Park last summmer and two ideas surface repeatedly, one is the view from the John Murie cabin of the East Fork River and the other is a view of Denali from the McKinley Bar Trail. I’ve chosen to begin with a painting of the East Fork River and will include the shadowy figure of one of the wolves that frequented the area. What attracted me to this scene was the evening light illuminating the distant mountains with alpen glow while the foreground and sections of the middle ground were in the shadows. It is an interesting play on light, and a factor that drives my work. At this stage of the painting the composition is roughed in using pencil and a very thin layer of acrylic wash is applied to begin establishing values.

Gail Niebrugge, Denali landscape artist

Last Tuesdays conference, at the downtown Anchorage Marriott Hotel, about Designing Alaska’s Cultural Future was well attended. Participants included James Pepper Henry the Director of the Anchorage Museum, Jason Hodges the Executive Director of the Anchorage Concert Association, Nancy DeCherney the Executive Director of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, Les Morse the Deputy Commissioner of the State of Alaska Commission on Education and Early Development, Tom Quass the Executive Director of the Kodiak Arts Council, Kris Tucker the Executive Director of the Washington State Arts Commission, Kesler Woodward a Professor Emeritus for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Anthony Radich the Executive Director of the Western States Arts Federation, and many more too numerous to list. A heady group indeed, with excellent ideas and input.

An outstanding presentation was given by Doug McLennan, the editor of ArtsJournal.com on the topic of “A Strategy for Culture in the Age of Infinite Choice”. He caused all of us to probe and examine new ways to dispense information in today’s fast paced marketplace.

Gail Niebrugge, Vice Chair Alaska State Council on the Arts

Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending a planning session at the downtown Anchorage Marriott Hotel, sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Western States Arts Federation where we explored the concept of building a coalition to develop a sustainable model of support for Alaska arts and culture. It is a heady subject and the attendees were straight out of the Who’s Who in Alaska art and culture. The above photo shows me on the right and pictured on the left is the Executive Director of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Charlotte Fox, standing in the middle is the Senator from Wasilla from the Alaska State Legislature, Linda Menard.

Chris D’Arcy, the Executive Director of the Oregon Arts Commission and past Director of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, gave an outstanding presentation of the creation and development of the Oregon Cultural Trust, a model that this group is considering to modify to fit the needs of Alaska. Discussions were lively and probing. Keep posted for continued developments on this concept.

Gail Niebrugge, Vice Chair Alaska State Council on the Arts

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the opening of a lovely invitational art show “Art for the Young at Heart” at the Primrose Retirement Community, Wasilla, Alaska. In the above photo my friend, Don Benson, enjoyed the show and the goodies on the reception table loaded with fabulous food. Jessica McGill Berberich, the marketing manager, knows how to stage a first-class event. The show will hang for the rest of the month, stop by and enjoy. Thanks Jessica!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska painter

At the beautiful Anchorage International Airport we welcomed home our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge, and his wife Janine after their extensive photography trip that included; the Rocky Mountain National Park; Moab, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; and the southern California desert. They look oddly tan next to lily white Alaskans, and were a little chilly in their light-weight jackets when they stepped off the airplane in the near zero temperatures of Anchorage. We are happy to have them home, even though they live several hours away in Seward, Alaska, we know we can see each other whenever we want. Ron’s latest photos are gorgeous!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I’m thinkin’ “Monarch” is finished It really didn’t require much more detail to complete, my effort concentrated on the reflected light in the shadows on the flower petals and creating color variation in the background. It might seem odd, but the negative space (background) in this painting took the most time. I’m not interested in slapping a monochrome solid color behind the positive space, I believe that every inch of a painting should be beautiful, and inch for inch this work is interesting and quite nice. I’m satisfied. “Monarch” 18×24 acrylic on canvas © Gail Niebrugge, call for price and availability (907)746-3256.

Next I begin serious work on the painting from my Artist-in-Residence at Denali National Park. I’ll squeeze time for this new project in between shows this month.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape art

It always fun to start adding details, here is a close-up of part of the wing of the Monarch butterfly.

Here is a close-up of the body of the Monarch, you can see all of the overlapping dots in these two details. Even though I’m beginning to develop detail, some of the main components of the painting are unresolved and in a very rough stage. I’m putting the cart before the horse (so to speak) by focusing on details at this point, this is usually reserved for last but for some reason I’m drawn to the patterns on the butterfly and got distracted. Oh well, I’ll just have to paint it all over again if I’ve jumped the gun and I might have a price to pay. My students will surely roll their eyes with this demonstration, we shall see if the gamble pays….

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildlife paintings

It may be hard to see, but I’ve been refining the patterns in the background, softening some and darkening others. I’ve changed the colors, some areas are blue green, others red violet, and others green. It is subtle, but much more interesting. I’m not sure I’m done yet, I’ll wait awhile and contemplate…… The butterfly and the flower remain unchanged and unfinished.

Gail Niebrugge, Artist

At this point I’m contemplating the shapes and hues in the background, and I think I’ll modify some….they seem too regular, to much the same. Some should be larger, some lighter, some darker, more variety. I’ve begun to add definition to the flower petals and the center. Nothing has been done to the butterfly for quite awhile. There is much to do yet, it is not the way I want it to look…..time to think, and study.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska painter

I’ve always found solace and comfort in nature no matter how tough the distress or tension, a few moments of quiet, gazing at the beauty of creation and I’m restored. Such was the case last Monday. The Holiday Food and Gift Show was unusually difficult, even though we took great measures to make things easier.

My husband, Bob, has shellfish allergies and becomes very ill if he consumes even a trace of these tasty crustaceans. We ordered baked halibut Saturday night and within hours he was violently sick. It was clear that the kitchen had used poor food handling and cross-contamination had occurred. I stayed up with him all night, finally falling asleep near 4:00AM. Sunday I worked the booth alone, Bob was exhausted. The event staff helped me tear down the booth and load the cargo trailer, I dreaded the drive home with falling snow in the dark. We arrived home safely, very tired and fell into bed.

In the morning I woke to the stunning sight of a fresh snowfall. All day I rested, working leisurely, sharing time between catching up the art business and gazing out the windows at the gorgeous miracle of new fallen snow. Slowly my fatigue disappeared, replaced with a peaceful contentment. Soon all was well again in my world. What a difference a day makes.

And then as the sun set, everything even got better!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

While friends Warren and Vicki visited our booth at the Holiday Food and Gift Show, Warren started shooting photos of the people and activity. Good friends Lori and Bob Sunder stopped to say hello and the next thing we knew Warren took our picture. It was a day of good times, best friends, memories, stories, and shared experiences. Part of the fun of doing these events is sharing time with wonderful people. Moments to treasure.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artisst

It was quiet on Friday and gave people lots of time to browse in the booth, but don’t be fooled, Saturday and Sunday will be a mad house. Savvy shoppers know to come on Friday.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska painter

We spent all day Thursday setting up our booth for the Holiday Food and Gift Show at the Anchorage Denai’na Center. The weather warmed up and made the experience towing our cargo trailer very easy. The show opens today at noon and closes Sunday, November 8, at 5:00PM. We are showing the first new print of “Wing Dancing”, it looks great. I look forward to seeing friends and collectors this weekend.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist