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I designed the logo for the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race in 1989 using research from my visit to the village of Atmutluak, Alaska. (more…)

“Race Day” 18″x24″ pen,ink and watercolor painting ©Gail Niebrugge

Another image painted as a result of my visit to the village of Atmautluak, Alaska. New subject matter can be overwhelming, sometimes it takes awhile to absorb what you see and find the true gems that should be painted.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Yupic Funeral” 22″x30″ acrylic painting on rag paper ©Gail Niebrugge

If my memory serves, the painting “After School” is underneath this painting. I painted this from my research in the Yupic village of Atmautluak, Alaska, showing the overflow crowd at the funeral of a village elder. (more…)

“Cruisin’ the Boardwalk” 12″x30″ watercolor painting on rag board ©Gail Niebrugge

Here is another painting from my visit to the village of Atmautluak, Alaska, showing my eskimo buddies that shadowed my every move. I was fascinated that the houses sat in pools of water during break-up, and no one seemed to mind.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“After School” 22″x30″ acrylic painting on rag paper ©Gail Niebrugge

This original painting was inspired by my stay in the village of Atmautluak, Alaska. Unfortunately I was not satisfied with the image and after a year of working on it and fussing with it I painted another image over the top. I’m so glad that I had the foresight to photograph this artwork before it was destroyed. Today I find the painting charming.  I learned a valuable lesson from this experience; Don’t be too quick to judge your work, let it rest awhile, sometimes it takes a few years before the true value of a painting can be determined.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Atmautluak Village” 3′x 8′ acrylic painting on four joined masonite panels.
Several years after this project was complete I heard that the Atmautluak school burned to the ground and was a total loss, so I do not know if this painting still exists. Unfortunately this is the best photo I have of the finished work. This project was commissioned by the Alaska State Council on the Arts Per-Cent for Art Program.
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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

A close-up detail of the fourth panel of “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Atmautluak, Alaska, school.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Close up detail in the “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Atmautluak, Alaska, school. Look closely and you can see the seam connecting panels together.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

A close up detail of the “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Yupic eskimo school in Atmautluak, Alaska. (more…)

Here is a photo of my work space in the Atmautluak, Alaska, school library with the nearly finished painting of race day in the village.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist

This photo shows me (on the left) and an employee at the Atmautluak school, Alaska, standing on the library coat rack inspecting the wall painted by the students to be used as a dark frame for the original artwork.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Atmautluak students preparing the wall for artwork photo.

After the funeral things came back to normal at the Atmautluak school. The location for the finished painting was a white wall above the coat rack in the school library. Since the painting was a winter scene consisting of shades of white we decided to paint a rectanglular background of a dark color on the light colored wall to frame the artwork. The above photo shows students preparing the wall for paint.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Yupic eskimo funeral Atmautluak, Alaska photo

During my stay at the Atmautluak school, an elder in the Yupic village died. As I worked on the painting I could watch the village activities from the window. Students did not attend school for several days and airplanes full of mourners from all the surrounding villages showed up every day. I was alone inside the school library with my painting. People walked up and down the boardwalk all day long and finally gathered at the church for the funeral.  The tiny building was so crowded that during the ceremony many stood outside as shown in my photo above.  My painting progressed very well because I was alone and could concentrate on it completely.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

At the end of my first day in Atmuatluak, Alaska, I was ready for a good nights sleep and eager to begin work on the commissioned original painting for the school library.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The boardwalk, almost invisible under snow drifts in February, was very easy to use. I spent the better part of my first evening in the village of Atmautluak, Alaska, walking up and down the boardwalk just like the kids. It was glorious to be here again!

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

During break-up I found the village landscape much more interesting than it was in February, contrasts between the snow and the rich, dark earth, and reflections in the water puddles from melting snow. I found myself wishing I had waited until April to do my research, it would have been so much easier. I spent the first day taking photos for my own personal reference to use for future paintings. It was exhilarating!

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

During a period of nice April weather I was greeted by happy, smiling children on my return to the village of Atmautluak, Alaska. The landscape had changed dramatically since my visit last February, Spring break-up was well underway. All of my art supplies and gear traveled well in the single engine Cessna aircraft, and arrived in good condition. I was ready to get to work on the painting for the school library.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The proposed painting of “Race Day” for the Atmautluak school library, Alaska, will be 3′ high and 8′ long, much too long to fit comfortably into the small single engine airplane that is chartered to bring me back to the village. So, my engineer husband Bob designed four 2′ long panels that could be bolted together when the painting was complete.

(more…)

At home again in my Copper Center, Alaska, studio I studied all the photo research and began sketching ideas for the Atmautluak painting. Several themes emerged; one was the sled dog race with the village in the background and the other was the village at night with northern lights overhead. I settled on the sled dog race because it showed the people at play and represented the entire community. I finally began to relax a little and became excited at the prospect of creating the painting, but I still worried about transporting everything I needed in a small single engine aircraft. More planning is still needed. (more…)

Artist Gail Niebrugge boarding Cessna 180 photo.

My week in the Yupic eskimo village of Atmautluak, Alaska, to gather research for a painting was finished and it was time to fly home. As I rode a snowmachine to the airstrip the wind was blowing just as it did when I arrived. Strangely, I had no fear of the wind anymore and happily climbed into the shiny red Cessna 180 for my return trip to Bethel. With a bit of saddness I said goodbye to the people of Atmautluak. After I design the painting and purchase supplies I will return to spend several weeks painting the orignial in the school library where the finished work will be installed. A lot of planning will be needed between now and then. My work has only just begun.

Atmautluak airstrip in the wind photo.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist