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“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

“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

“Kennecott Complex” original pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Sometimes I just like to sit down at the drafting table and drag out my ancient crow quill pen nibs, dip them into a jar of india ink, and crosshatch, stipple, and squiggle may way into a wonderful ink drawing.  The old fashioned way.  The way we were taught before half tone screens and digital pixels.  Just pure, clean, marks with a pen nib. One at a time. It is rewarding, relaxing, and allows no room for mistakes.  I feel totally in command, knowing each and every stroke is important and cannot be changed.  I loved inking this drawing.  It is rather large and took some time, but it is a thing of beauty to behold.  An accurate rendering of the Kennicott Copper Mill in the Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska, many years before stabilization efforts began.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska pen and ink artist

“The Office” original ink/watercolor drawing by Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Back to the series on my early days living and painting the Wrangell-St. Elias. One of my favorite buildings at historic Kennicott Copper Mine in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the small log building that served as the managers office. It is a simple little structure, dwarfed by the surrounding mill buildings, but charming in its own way. It is especially attractive when fireweed are in bloom, a great patch of the wildflower extends from the side yard down the cut bank and adds a nice touch of color to the building when viewed from below. I enhanced this pen and ink drawing with watercolor and while it was still wet and sprinkled it with table salt. The individual specks of salt absorbed the pigment and created a pattern of random white dots, sort of a forerunner to the technique of pointillism, a style that I developed several years later.
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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Art

“Mc Carthy Lodge” original ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, original sold, limited edition prints sold out.

I return to the series of my early years living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness. The owners of the McCarthy Lodge during this era grew flowers and plants everywhere, tin cans full of herbs set along the window sills, rows of flower beds along the front, galvanized tubs served as large planters as did any kind of empty container, you name it and it had a plant growing inside. The green foliage and colorful blooms created a cheerful, welcome place to stop, rest, eat, drink a beer, or shower. A homey atmosphere prevailed, the smell of hot pies cooling on the kitchen window ledges drove even the antisocial inside with a smile. I have good memories during this period of history at the lodge. And, many fine drawings and paintings of this period of history in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness of Alaska.
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Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Art

“Mc Carthy Truck” original ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, original drawing sold, limited editions prints sold out.

Many years ago this wonderful truck graced the streets of the remote historic town of Mc Carthy and was one of only a few ancient vehicles in the community. To put things in better perspective, at that time their were a handful of people living year-round in the region. It was great fun to climb into the back of one of the ancient pickup’s and take the wild, bumpy ride five miles up to the abandoned Kennicott mill site. I’m not sure where this icon resides today, it isn’t on the streets of the town anymore. The last I heard, it was parked, forgotten behind the lodge near the incinerators. I wish someone would put it back on the street as an icon, or symbol of the history of this place.

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Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

“McCarthy Road” an original pen and ink drawing montage by artist Gail Niebrugge, sold.

Back to the series about my early life as an artist living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of Alaska’s wilderness. Mc Carthy, one of my favorite places in the Wrangell mountains can be accessed by road, although it is not for travelers on a limited time schedule and certainly not for large RV’s. It can be done, but the cost to RV’s traversing the occasionally graded washboard, potholed, dirt surface is usually not worth the effort. Plus, after many hours of slow, bumpy driving the road ends at the Kennicott River where the bridge is washed out. Today, visitors can access Mc Carthy and Kennicott via a foot bridge, but that wasn’t the case until recently.

This pen and ink drawing depicts the journey along the McCarthy road, from the ancient gas pump in Chitina where the road begins, the bridge over the Copper River, a historic old vehicle and wagon along the way, the Kuskulana a famous old railroad bridge, the remains of a trestle from the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, and finally the old tram at the Kennicott River. Today the tram has been replaced with a footbridge for public access to McCarthy and the Kennicott copper mill.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist

“The Woodshed” pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, collection of the artist.

On a rocky peninsula jutting out into the canyon 800 feet above a creek stood an amazing cabin with an even more amazing outhouse. This privately owned property is located many miles up the Nugget Creek trail and can be reached only by all terrain vehicle in the summer, and snow machine in the winter. To access the cabin we parked the ATV’s in a small pull-out along the trail and climbed down the cliffs using a narrow footpath to a very small ledge where the little cabin is perched on a pinnacle on the edge of the steep canyon. The outhouse shares space with the woodshed and is placed next to a sheer drop off. The view from the outhouse is spectacular and scary, from the seat inside you can see the river far below. The narrow canyon is only about 200 yards wide and its’ vertical walls are higher than the cabin. We were struck dumb by the meticulous construction at this difficult site, knowing all the materials had to be hauled in over the same trail we just traveled. Our stay at this delightful place was restful and full of wonder. I made many sketches of the area, kept a journal, and drew maps and elevations of the building site. Having permission to stay in this remarkable place is an honor and a privilege.

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Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

“Nugget Creek Cabin” pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge, collection of the artist.

One of the few trails accessible by ATV in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, is Nugget Creek. It crosses quite a few streams as it follows the Kuskulana River about 15 miles to the public use cabin at Nugget Creek. We loaded a week’s worth of gear onto the front and rear racks of our two four-wheel drive all terrain vehicles and headed down the trail. The stream crossings were fairly easy, only one was so deep that our wheels lost touch with the river bed and the ungainly vehicles floated downstream with the current. Fortunately our tires touched ground before we were swept past the trail on opposite shore. The cabin is well built and protected from bears with stout window coverings and a solid wood door. I sat on the seat and used handlebars of my ATV as an outdoor easel creating plein air pen and ink drawings and pencil sketches for use as reference for future paintings to be completed at my studio. We traveled further up the trail to spectacular views of the Kuskulana Glacier and Mt. Blackburn, finally reaching our destination at an incredible privately owned cabin perched at the top of a steep outcropping in a canyon with access only from one direction. An amazing place.

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Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

Hannigita Heaven original pen/ink/watercolor by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

A plein air drawing of my Hannigita Lake retreat. I brought watercolor, pencils, pen and ink and gesso prepared masonite panels to use during my week at the lake. Inside we felt secure and safe from bears that roamed the area. Each window had a stout rusty saw blade mounted across the opening, a definite deterrent. The door could be barred shut by a heavy plank that slid across its width, secured by a latch. On a nice warm night it got very stuffy and hot inside, so sometimes we took a risk and cracked the door open for ventilation. In the crisp, cool air of morning we pre-warmed our clothes by the wood stove. At night I was always wide-eyed and alert for wildlife as I crept across the rickety plank trail to the outhouse with heart beating wildly, and raced back to the safety of the cabin. It would take awhile to settle down and fall asleep again. We were wonderfully scared, brave, and in love with Hannigita, and Alaska.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

“Airtight” pen and ink drawing by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

During our brief tenure in the Caribou Cabin we learned the art of keeping the woodstove drafted and banked. After a few months we moved to a place that had an oil burning furnace, or we would have frozen to death that winter. The cabin wasn’t chinked tightly, or made for winter living, it was a summer place. Even with the airtight burning red hot I felt a chill when the wind blew as it crept through the cracks in the logs and caused the curtains inside to blow horizontal. We nicknamed the woodstove the “Airloose” because most of the fittings were no longer snug, we often saw flames through the seams and the smoke stack would randomly belch into the room.

Nonetheless, it was a marvelous subject to sketch and draw and I spent many hours using the stove and surrounding objects as still-life subject matter.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

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.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Spring Cubs 8.5”x11” open edition $20.00

While in Denali National Park one June doing research for paintings, I was fortunate to be able to observe a sow Grizzly bear with twin spring cubs. This pen and ink drawing enhanced with watercolor is now available in an open edition fine art print just in time for the Christmas holidays. Call to order (907)746-3256.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Bearflower Bear 6.5″ x 6.5″ art print © Niebrugge

This new miniature art print makes a perfect gift to tuck into a Christmas stocking for that special someone, or a thoughtful present for any special occasion.  Reproduced from an original pen and ink drawing enhanced with watercolor by Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge,  Bearflower Bear is available as an open edition print for $15.00 U.S. To order call Niebrugge Studio at 907-746-3256.

“Musk Ox” Pen/ink drawing ©Niebrugge

I always enjoy visiting the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska, and am particularly fond of watching the babies.  These animals have an interesting behavior, they tend to group together standing very close to one another side by side all in a row.  This drawing is now offered in an open edition print at $19.00 US each.  Call or email to order (907)746-3256.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist

Rika’s Roadhouse pen and ink drawing ©Niebrugge
During the early 1960’s when I studied commercial art, the process used to create black and white artwork for publication involved producing ink drawings by hand using multiple techniques with pen and ink to create various shades of gray. Cross hatch, parallel lines, stipple, curves, squiggle, and any other method an artist could devise were employed using different pen points of varying thickness. One way to distinguish between mediocre ink drawing and excellent work was to evaluate the quality of the ink line. (more…)