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Spending a week at Girdwood, Alaska, a tiny town situated a the base of the world class ski resort Alyeska gives me the opportunity to gather valuable winter research in an area that accumulates a lot of snow. Moose’s Meadow is a wonderful groomed Nordic/Skate Ski area with a stunning view of the surrounding mountains and ski lifts. My preconceived ideas for finding majestic spruce loaded with snow got shot down when a warm front moved in and brought wind and rain. Nonetheless, the landscape still retains it’s magic, and skiing is very pleasant in the warmer temperatures. The clouds alternately covered and uncovered the distant peaks, occasional ray of sun illuminated the mountain tops and I found a different kind of beauty to use in future paintings. Lesson learned again, let the landscape speak to you, watch and wait…..it is worth every minute.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

After two seamless flights on Alaska Airlines from San Diego/Seattle, Seattle/Anchorage and Bob met me at the beautiful Anchorage International Airport for the one-hour drive to our Palmer studio. The weather here is blustery, but still in the mid 40’s during the day. No snow on the ground yet. While in San Diego I did not adjust to the humid heat, I’ve been away from that climate for so long it seems I’m a true Alaskan. I like the cool daytime temperatures of October with nighttime near freezing, relieving us from yard work until spring. The days are growing shorter, today it was dark until nearly 8:00AM and dusk arrives around 6:00PM. Winter is the time of the year that I paint, toasty warm in the studio with good light I recreate lush, bold colors in acrylic of all seasons. Landscapes, birds, flowers, and wildlife come to life on my easel. Yes, I’m looking forward to winter in Alaska.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape art

Cousin Arlene Shuster and I visited the wild animal park during my recent trip to San Diego and the Lorkeets gave me a surprise as they landed on my hand, arm, and shoulders while I fed them. This is a gorgeous park, the foliage and gardens are beautiful and I enjoyed watching the animals and waterfowl in re-created natural habitat. Sunny warm weather greeted us every day, we wore shorts and sandals summertime in October. Tomorrow I fly back to Alaska where winter is on the way. Good bye old friends and family, it was nice to see all of you again!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Forty cousins and second cousins met for a picnic in Escondido for the annual family reunion that has convened for more than 75 years. Grandma and grandpa are gone along with our six aunts and uncles, but the third and forth generation still meet. It is wonderful to be a part of this family. Pictured above are my second cousin Noell Krueger with husband Kelly and second cousin Dennis Orsborn with wife Sally.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Friends since grade school the four of us shared memories at the class reunion in San Diego last weekend. From left to right are myself, Karen Smith, Toni Moreno, and Phyllis Smith, good Girl Scouts all.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Last weekend I traveled to San Diego for a class reunion and family reunion. Pictured are five of us, long-time girlfriends, outdoors in sunny warm weather lunching at Little Italy downtown San Diego. Left to right; Barbara Ohlund, me, Doree Radici, Carol Rife and Toni Moreno. We laughed and talked non-stop for two days reliving memories and old-times. Reunions are great fun!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

The trusty old truck and camper are packed and ready to roll for my Artist-in-Residence at Denali National Park. I packed for 10 days; food, water and extra gas in 5 gallon cans. We are bringing our bicycles to provide another mode of transportation from the Murie cabin where we will be based. I’m not sure if I will be able to connect to the internet during my stay, I’ve packed the laptop and hope I can publish a blog or two and check email at the Toklat Ranger Station where we have access to showers.

The residency includes use of the historic John Murie cabin outfitted for wilderness comfort with a propane refrigerator and stove, but has no electricity or running water. This should be a great adventure. I’m planning to do a lots of photography, miles of hiking and biking, and will keep the sketch book handy at all times. My daily journal is important for notes and observations. Included in my supplies are tools for pen and ink sketching, I’m planning to produce drawings in ink directly on location, weather permitting. Painting on location is not something I normally practice, but I may try some quick studies using my tiny back packer watercolor set.

We are expecting frequent encounters with wildlife as this location is known for grizzly bear, caribou, sheep, fox, wolves, and other small critters. Binoculars are a must.

If I am unable to obtain internet connections I will save my blog posts and publish them when we return.

Gail Niebrugge, Denali artist-in-residence

While visiting Copper Center, Alaska, we took a short drive to see the beloved fishwheel that served us during our ninteen years of residency.  I walked down the familiar, worn wooden ramp and checked the box where two fresh red salmon were flopping, straining to escape.  I miss my daily walk down the dusty lane through the forest of paper birch to the fishwheel.  Things haven’t changed much, the river was full and raging from the summer heat, a few more houses are sprinkled in the woods, and my onetime neighbors yard sports a lush vegetable garden nearly as large as the one I’m growing in Palmer.  Life in the Copper River Basin during summer is good, but I don’t miss the severe, difficult winters anymore.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan artist

Saturday we attended a long planned, super secret, surprise birthday party for my old friend Donna Church in our former community of Copper Center, Alaska.  We had a wonderful time renewing friendships, catching up on news and eating authentic home made pot-luck food.  Our visit brought back many memories of raising our children and working in this wilderness neighborhood during the late 1970’s through early 1990’s.  What we miss most, besides the use of the resident fish wheel, are the people.  Warm, generous, tough, hard-working, the people of the Copper River Basin are the best of the best.  We love and cherish our old friends and neighbors.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan artist

Bob and our guide, Jeremy Anderson, standing next to Bob’s King Salmon caught from the drift boat on the Kasilof River, Alaska.

Seining boats harbored in the beautiful Kasilof River.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

We have taken our house guests King Salmon fishing with guide Jeremy Anderson of Drift Away Fishing on the Kasilof River, Alaska.  My blog posts will be irregular for the next week.  I’ll let you know how we did when I get back to my computer and internet service.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

All the members of our family lead very busy lives, it is a rare occasion when we can all be together.  Successful photographer, son Ron, just returned from a four month photo shoot on the road in the lower 48 states, joined us during the Alyeska Ski Club races and used his skill to photograph his niece and nephew during the competitions.

Ron’s wife, aunt Janine, congratulates niece Sydney who placed third in the Mighty Mites Beavers category.

Later in the afternoon the Challenge Alaska Ski Lodge hosted their last day before closing celebration with a relay ski race.  Here is the first of four legs where son-in-law Rob skis the pylons with his daughter Quincy in her adaptive bi-ski.

The second part of the the race team are daughter Tawny and her son Reilly with his eyes covered as they complete the leg using training for the blind with voice commands.  The Buck team placed third in this very challenging event.  Earlier in the day Reilly took second place in his division in the Brian Russell Memorial Races.

Bob and I spent our time running back and forth between events, being present when awards were presented and I shot photos with my aging pocket digital camera with a non-functioning LED screen.  It is amazing that the photos came out half way decent.  And, that is our first day with the whole family in 2009!  We hope we can have a few more family gatherings soon, but with this busy group it is not easy.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The drive changed every half hour as we towed the cargo trailer home from Fairbanks to Palmer after the show.  It started out sunny with a frosting of fresh snow on the landscape and clear, dry roads.  We were ecstatic!  Then, as we approached the Denali National Park area the sky grew dark and delicate snow flakes swirled, pushed by strong winds.  Windy Pass lived up to its name and the roads became slick with packed snow.  An hour later we were in the conditions shown in the photo above that I took through the front windshield of our vehicle.  We were doused regularly with a wet, sandy, ash and salt mixture.  The good news was that the fresh snow blanketed and smothered the ill effects of the volcanic ash fallout from Mt. Redoubt.  Later the roads were dry and only an inch of snow covered the land.  Back home at the studio with temperatures around 30 Fahrenheit, Bob hooked up a garden hose to the hot water faucet and rinsed the frozen mud-salt-ash paste off the exterior of the cargo trailer and took the car through the local car wash.  Now all is well, everything parked back in their respective storage spaces and we are ready to collapse into bed.

It was a lot of work but worth it, a very good show.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan artist

I’m still thinking about the landscape and countryside in New Zealand, there is no question they are gorgeous.  All of the Harry Potter films were shot in the Marlborough country, and I can see why.  This is a sheep and cattle ranch near the town of Dunedin.  I hope to visit again someday.  But now, it’s back to work.  We are on our way to Fairbanks for a show this weekend where we will have a booth of my paintings and prints.

Gail Niebrugge, painter of the land

The botanical gardens in New Zealand are amazing, during our recent trip we visited a number of private gardens that were unequaled in their design and careful care.  This privately owned yard is a stunning example of a very formal garden, not shown are water features and sculptures strategically placed for interest and beauty.

Gail Niebrugge, Landscape painter

Looking back on my recent travels, I think I enjoyed the botanical gardens in each town as much as I did the scenic countryside or wildlife.  The rose garden at Christchurch was equaled only by the color and varieties of the dahlias.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Wildflower Artist

The last three days of the cruise were sea days from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia.  The sea conditions were “moderate” and the pool sloshed out onto the decks off and on, but the weather was warm and sunny.

The last day at sea the captain announced that one of our engines quit, and we would be returning with only one engine.  With the rolling sea our time would be slowed and arrival time in Sydney delayed.  We are grateful that we allowed an extra day before our flight home.  Some passengers with tight connections are very stressed.

I am writing this at the Sydney MacDonalds using their free WiFi.  Most internet along the way on our trip was slow and expensive.  On board the ship it was $55 US for 100 minutes!  So I have been very thrifty with the use of internet.

I’m looking forward to returning to Alaska, even though it is still cold there and quite hot here.  We are on our way to summer in Alaska, and Fall is approaching over here.

I will miss this beautiful land, and am forever grateful that I was blessed to be able to take this trip.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

With the ship pool and hot tub finally filled with warm water our last three days at sea were spent sunning, reading, and people watching in the proximity of these amenities.

A funny thing, I’m noticing my speech is slowly slipping into the local dialect, sort of mimicking what I hear.  It is rather amusing, actually, that I do this almost unconsciously.  Bob can’t understand anything when someone is speaking with a heavy dialect and I’m constantly interpreting for him.  But I’m not having any problem and find the word pronunciation almost lyrical.

In Australia every one says “G’day” and “No Worries”.  Aside from these common phrases, for many ordinary words they seem to put the emphasis differently on a syllable.  Like pahwrk for park, or bawrding the feery for boarding the ferry.

New Zealanders use the words “wee bit” to describe something small or little, and I’m doing that too.  For ordinary words their emphasis on the syllable is similar to the Aussies, but even more extreme.  The fahwrms and heels are quite lovely these days, meaning farms and hills….

The one thing the locals all seem to have in common is a fierce pride in their country and a friendly competition between them.  We were looking for a New Zealand wine in a New Zealand liquor store when an Australian customer approached us and tried to get us to buy a “better” wine made in Southern Australia.  It is fun and sort of wonderful.  As a people they are all very friendly and down to earth.  And, without exception, when they find out we are from Alaska they all ask us to send our greetings to Sarah.  Actually, even the folks on the cruise, which is 50% American and the rest either Australian or New Zealanders, ask us to tell Sarah that they love her and to hang in there!  It is quite amazing how much they know about the United States.

It is very easy and fun to travel over here, and the landscape is stunning.  We will miss this beautiful place.

Gail Niebrugge, Coming home to Alaska

After the Auckland passengers departed the ship in the morning, we decided to go ashore and explore the city and its sights on our own.  The ship is docked right down town, it is only a five minute walk to city center.  We finished our souvenir shopping and decided to go to the ferry terminal for a 15 minute ride across the bay to the city of Devonport at the tip of the peninsula.  Once there we boarded a small bus for an hour tour of the quaint town and spectacular views from the top of an extinct volcano.  We enjoyed our visit and reluctantly headed back to the ship for a 4:00PM final boarding.

Gail Niebrugge, Landscape painter

Our ship Captain had a wonderful plan for us today and needed daylight hours to see some scenic volcanic islands and the Hole in the Wall Passage, an alternate route to the Bay of Plenty.  An extra bonus was beautiful sunshine, clear weather and calm seas.  Pictured is White Island Volcano the most active volcano in New Zealand.

Dinner this evening was a celebration, waiters juggled and made flamboyant food presentations, the mood was jovial.  It was the final night for passengers disembarking in Auckland.  I was very disappointed that when the Baked Alaska was served it was not lit in flames, apparently new regulations ban this activity.  During the evening we enjoyed an evening with a male soloist who had an excellent voice.  We entered the port of Auckland during the night.  All disembarking passengers had to have their suitcases packed and ready for an early morning departure.  I’m glad we are staying on three more days and don’t disembark until Sydney, Australia.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist