Original Art, Prints and Cards
After a busy four days with our guests we flew to a bear viewing lodge in Lake Clark National Park and landed in a Cessna 180 on the beach. Bears were spotted in the sedges as we prepared to land. Four wheelers towing trailers met us to haul our gear to the cabins.Within the hour [...]
It has been a few years since we’ve visited Talkeetna, Alaska, last Wednesday we took our guests there. It was a gorgeous, sunny, clear day and on the spur of the moment Kyle and Ned decided to take a flight tour of Mt. McKinley and land on a glacier. While our guests flew we enjoyed [...]
During this period of extraordinary, warm spell in Alaska we took advantage of the great weather and brought our guests to the Matanuska Glacier for a guided hike on the ice. Pictured are myself, Kyle from Hollister California, and Kyle’s grandpa from San Jose, California. This is the kind of thing I love to do [...]
I’ve spend nearly two days weeding in the garden and yard, very few real weeds have appeared yet, but by July the place will be overrun. For some reason my entire yard is home to the oldest living plant, a prehistoric invader known as horsetail. It doesn’t reproduce with flowers and pollen, it uses spores. [...]
Some of you may have noticed that my blog entries have slowed down a bit lately, I have been working like a trojan prepping the yard for summer. After surviving the longest winter on record in Alaska, planting is about three weeks behind. With only a 90 day growing season most of us who garden [...]
Our yard on May 29, 2013, after several days of plus 80 degree heat! From a blizzard and below freezing to over 80 in a week. The ice melted, trees turned green, ducks, grebes, geese, swallows, and gulls began building nests and we went from winter to summer, skipping spring. This Rednecked Grebe built a [...]
This photo of the Diamond Princess was taken at the dock in Whittier, May 18, 2013! We arrived home in a blizzard, colder than a witches snot, we’ve been talking ’bout Alaska, ever since the weather got hot. I’m goin’ to Alaska, and that’s a fact. Yeah, we’re stayin’ in Alaska, won’t ever be bushwhacked. [...]
Sometime during the second Monday on board the Diamond Princess somewhere at sea in the Pacific Ocean a passenger became seriously, dangerously ill and needed medical services far beyond those available at the ship medical clinic. The captain began exploring options to transfer the patient to a hospital. The best plan was to increase the [...]
Yesterday it was Monday, and today it is Monday again. The Diamond Princess crossed the International Dateline at the following position: Latitude 51º 45.3 North and Longitude 172º 18.5 East somewhere near the island of Attu in the Aleutian Chain. Two Mondays! What a way to begin the week. Tomorrow, Tuesday, the low temperature is [...]
The Diamond Princess sailed away from Japan heading out to sea for an eight day Pacific Ocean crossing to Alaska. Once hot, sunny skies slowly became misty gray, low clouds spattered rain and temperatures cooled. Soon the outdoor poolside lounges were abandoned for warm indoor nooks and crannies strewn about the ship with reading lamps [...]
Tokyo, Japan, is the last port on Bob and Gail Niebrugges cruise, next the ship begins the trip to Alaska crossing the International Date line sometime during the final week. The couple visited The Sankeien Garden while in Tokyo, it was established in 1902 and contains mature Bonzai trees surrounding many ponds and trails with [...]
Osaka, Japan, a modern city with monuments from the past served as a one-day stop for the Niebrugges on their journey by sea back to Alaska. Pictured above is Bob standing next to a few of the thousands of stone lanterns that line the way to to the Sumiyoshi shrine, a Japanese National Treasure. Both [...]
Busan, South Korea, charmed Bob and Gail Niebrugge as they spent a full day touring this clean, modern city. It was a significant contrast to the congested, industrial China with its heavily polluted air. Busan sports a very efficient infrastructure, elevated freeways and long, curving bridges. Gardens and trees are profuse. The above photo shows [...]
Dining alone on an empty ship at the dock in Dalian, China, while all the passengers went on tours, Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge explored the smoggy city by herself while husband Bob was confined to their stateroom under a 48 hour quarantine. The Diamond Princess is using extreme caution with passengers showing any signs of [...]
Touring Bejing, China, Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge and husband Bob visited the Great Wall and climbed hundreds of steep steps up the steep hillside for a great view. Truly an amazing historic place. The couple also toured the summer and winter palace grounds, both in beautiful locations surrounding small lakes. The city of Bejing itself [...]
After 24 hrs of travel and 2 hours of sleep, Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge and her husband Bob spent a full day touring Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and Hutong in Bejing, China. It was a labor holiday in China and the city was full of tourists from all parts of the region. The Niebrugges [...]
Alaska Artist Gail Niebrugge loves the white Snow Geese and their contrast with dark colored Canada Geese. Both of these birds are in great abundance in the fields and marshes of Palmer, in the Matanuska Valley Alaska during the spring migration. Feeding, preening, and resting, a brief respite from the long flight before resuming travel [...]
During the Alaska spring bird migration in the Matanuska Valley, hundreds of Sandhill Cranes occupy fields and marshes and begin the noisy, mating ritual. Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge spends days chasing all over the valley to find the best vantage point for sketching and photographing these large, beautiful birds.
Frozen Alaska ground thaws slowly, melting snow forms temporary ponds where great flocks of migrating geese congregate to feed and rest. Within weeks the water will absorb into the warming earth, fields will dry and the birds will be gone. But for this short time, Palmer, Alaska is transformed into a sanctuary for migrating [...]
The skies over Palmer, Alaska, are alive with thousands of birds as they migrate north for the summer. Hay fields in motion with hundreds of birds feeding at once, Snow Geese, Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and temporary ponds from snow melt the magnificent Trumpeter Swan repose. Sounds of wings and bird calls fill the [...]
Gail Niebrugge (Knee-brew-ghe) born and raised in California has pursued art since childhood, winning a poster contest on the Johnny Jet television show at the age of twelve. Gail began her career as an illustrator for the US Navy and Marines in San Diego, and later established the Instructional Media Center for the Grossmont High School District in La Mesa, California. The Niebrugge family fell in love with Alaska while on vacation in 1976 and never returned home, instead they established a residence and studio in the remote interior settlement of Copper Center where the artist painted … [Read More...]
Wikipedia defines pointillism as; "a style of painting in which small distinct points of primary colors create the impression of a wide selection of secondary and intermediate colors." It goes on to say that the mind and the eye mix the color spots into a full range of tones and that it is closely related to Divisionism. Divisionism was practiced by Georges Seurat during the Neo-Impressionism period. He broke his color into basic elements and painted very small and regular dots. His dots are carefully placed as to not touch each other, so the white under painted canvas shows around all of the dots. I call my painting technique pointillism, but technically it is incorrect according to Wikipedia. The difference between my technique and true pointillism is that I use … [Read More...]