Coffee from Snow
Making Coffee original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.
Back to my series about living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska. One cold winter day a well-known pilot and hunting guide commissioned me to do a painting of “Moose Camp”, a cabin located in a remote area of the Wrangell mountains. Dressed in warm clothes we climbed into his tiny super-cub, a fabric covered single-engine aircraft where the pilot fills the front seat and the passenger seat is directly behind the pilot. We flew over miles of snow covered wilderness to the base of Mt. Drum where I spotted a little cabin nestled in the trees below. The pilot guided the ski equipped plane to a smooth landing on very deep, punchy snow. Unfortunately the pilot forgot a second pair of snowshoes, only one pair were strapped to the wing struts and he graciously offered them to me. Undaunted by our situation he reached the cabin by laying on his belly, flat on the snow, and propeled himself forward using arms and legs in butterfly motions. The afternoon passed quickly as I busily sketched and photographed the subject from every perspective, my guide melted snow on the wood stove and made the best tasting cup of coffee I can remember. Just another day at the office for me!
More tomorrow,
Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska
