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Our round trip on the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward was wonderful.  What I liked best is eating in the dining car.  The food was good, the service excellent and the view unsurpassed!  I heartily recommend this trip.

Gail Niebrugge, Art for Alaska

The Kennicott Glacier Lodge hosted me during my Artist-in-Residence at Kennicott, and is my favorite place to stay. I have watched the lodge grow through the years and am friends with the staff, the Assistant Manager Joann pictured with me above, and the owners. I recommend this place as a must to stay when you visit Kennicott/Mc Carthy, Alaska.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I spent another full day hiking with National Park guides to the iceberg filled Erie Lake on the Root Glacier planning to frame the lake with the glacier in the background to use as reference material for a future painting. Pilot reports said that the lake was full of water, unfortunately it drained out during the night and all that remained were huge icebergs. In the distance is the stairway icefalls. The hike was about 12 miles round trip and very interesting. We had to wait for a black bear with two tiny spring cubs to leave the trail on our return trip.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Students joined me for a sketching walk at the Historic Kennecott Copper Mill site. We climbed the trail alongside the mill and sketched from the bridge over National Creek. Students are pictured on the trail to Silk Stocking Row sketching a scene of the mill buildings.

A bonus surprise, we found a garden of Columbine to sketch.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Ranger Marie accompanied me with a guide on an all day hike exploring the Root Glacier and the waterfall at Donahoe Peak in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It was a hot, sunny day, ice crampons worked well in the porous surface of the glacial ice.

More tomorrow

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

The largest building at May Creek served as the central kitchen, sleeping quarters and gathering place for the brush clearing volunteers. The guys cooked pancakes for everyone on the last day. (more…)

During my Artist-in-Residency I was invited to join a group of volunteers who were clearing brush from remote airstrips within the park.  This was a perfect opportunity to see more of the park, sketch and photograph some of the public use cabins and surrounding scenery.  We spent a beautiful day at Peavine, a gravel airstrip at the base of the Chitistone Canyon between the Wrangell and St. Elias mountain ranges. (more…)

While serving as Artist-in-Residence I flew in the park owned single engine Cessna to many interesting sites that can only be reached by small gravel and grass runways.  Here is the runway at Jake’s Bar, a beautiful spot along the Chitina River with a public use cabin. (more…)

My first assignment as Artist-in-Residence for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was to teach a workshop about sketching in the field. The sun blessed us as we walked and sketched along the bluff trail overlooking the Copper River with views of the Wrangell Mountains. We pursued three points of view; finding compositions in the distance, middle ground and up-close. (more…)

We took a quick trip to Homer, Alaska, and camped with our daughter and family at a nice campground on the Homer Spit. Along with wonderful sunny weather, we had a steady, constant wind which was perfect for keeping a kite in the air. Many a lazy hour was spent watching the kite dip and dive in the sky. I found many subjects to sketch and photograph for my reference files to use in future paintings.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Join me at the historic Kennecott, in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, July 17 for a two hour field sketching workshop from 1:15-3:15PM. Art supplies provided. I will be giving a slide presentation showing 30 years of painting the Wrangell-St. Elias July 17, 4:00-5:30PM at the Kennecott Recreation Hall.  Slide presentation July 18, 8:00PM at the Kennecott Glacier Lodge. I don’t think I will be able to post to my blog during my week at the Kennecott, but will catch you up on all the happenings when I return to the studio.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I’m getting ready to spend some time in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park as the Artist in Residence 2007. Friday, July 13 at 7:00PM I will be presenting a slide show at the Copper River Princess Lodge, showing 30 years of paintings. July 13 at 1:15-3:15PM I host “A Walk through the Eyes of an Artist” with a field sketching workshop at the park Visitor Center. Art supplies are provided. You can find out more about my schedule in the park by going to the Events Calendar on my website.

During my stay in the park I may not be able to update my blog, but will certainly update everything when I return to the studio. From the Copper Center headquarters I will travel to the Kennicott where I will spend the bulk of my time. Hope to see some of you out there, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Gail and Karin Marks, owner of the Art Shop Gallery in Homer, relax after a successful show.  Karin, always the perfect hostess, prepared a delicious dinner afterward for the gallery staff, family and friends.  It was a wonderful day.  The weather in Homer was beautiful, sunny but not too hot, just the way I like it!  We drove to Homer after watching the Mt. Marathon Race on the 4th of July in Seward.  Our son, famous photographer Ron, announced the women’s race from a flatbed truck on Main Street.  What a hoot!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

From left to right; Don Texter from Luxury Limousines in Anchorage, Suzanne Teng the Product Manager for North America and Europe with Abercrombie & Kent the original luxury travel company, myself, and Michele Glass the Senior Account Manager for Entree Alaska Tours a company that specializes in exclusive, extraordinary custom travel in Alaska. During their visit to my studio we discussed adding tours of the studio, field trips exploring the landscape through the eyes of the artist, and other personalized experiences to their Alaska tour offerings next year. Sound interesting? Just give these folks a call and they will take care of your every travel need.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Bob and I with a pile of cannon balls at the old fort in historic San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, we spent several days exploring Puerto Rico. We enjoyed the El Yunque rainforest and driving along the eastern coastline to Guayama before crossing the island back to San Juan. By now we were well rested, tan, and ready to return to Alaska where the snow would be melting and temperatures in April generally stay above freezing.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

We spent a wonderful day at an all inclusive beach resort at De Palm Island, Aruba, basking in the sun, swiming, and snorkeling. By now my sunburn was turning into a golden tan and I was feeling more comfortable in my ten-year old purple bathing suit, I decided to challenge my rusty swimming skills by snorkeling in the surf. I love watching the tropical fish dart in and out of rocky coves and coral formations. For a fleeting moment I thought it would be fun to paint scenes of tropical fish, but soon realized that I did not have enough knowledge of this underwater world to do it justice.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

One of the best parts of cruising is the food. We were very fortunate to have fun, interesting, fabulous dinner companions at early seating while on our South America/Panama Canal cruise. Every evening was full of great conversation, information, and plain ‘ole silliness. We had so much fun every night that the wait staff nearly kicked us out in order to prepare the tables for late seating. We miss our new friends. From left to right; Dr. Wilber Spaulding, Ann Wacker, me (tan and happy), my husband Bob, Mary Lou Spaulding, and Ron Wacker. Thank you Ron, for the great photo!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Even though we have traversed the Panama Canal before, the experience is always facinating and enjoyable. Our ship, the Regal Princess, had very little room to spare in the locks and was just about the biggest vessel that can be accomodated. We enjoyed spending all day in the hot sun during the trip though the canal where I used lots of sun screen, by this time my white body was turning a ripe shade of red, but it felt so good!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

An artist painting at the ox cart factory in the lovely city of Sarchi, Costa Rica. We were fortunate to have enough time in Costa Rica to travel to the Poas Volcano National Park, and to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens where we saw a butterfly observatory and a humingbird aviary. The vibrant colors of the tropical flowers were fantastic, and I loved the beautiful butterflies. Now I want to paint butterflies! I liked Costa Rica very much.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

Boats are still built by hand in the coastal town of Quito (Manta), Ecuador. The weather was hot and humid, just what our lily white, sun deprived bodies needed. We traveled overland to Montecristi and visited an artisans market and watched women make Panama hats by hand. The living conditions in this region were squalid and sparse, fortunately the climate is warm and shelter from the sun is all that is really needed.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist