Gail Niebrugge's Blog
Winter in Alaska is a time of darkness, we have about 5 hours of daylight right now. What people don’t know is that the sunrise and sunset last a long, long time and are often spectacular. This sunrise was taken from my studio window upstairs looking south, I knew it was going to be beautiful [...]
Keeping the driveway cleared and safe is a priority at the studio/residence, especially during this busy pre-Christmas shopping season. Nothing is worse than rain after a heavy snow. During rain tire tracks that were made before the new snow was plowed end up turning into solid ice because the ground is frozen. The longer the [...]
What is next? Volcano eruptions and now a big earthquake? With all this excitement going on, how can anyone concentrate on work? I wish this volcano thing would just settle down and get back to being a pretty mountain again. I was working on the second floor in my painting studio when the trembler hit [...]
The sun sets about 4:07PM right now in Alaska, and sometimes it is so spectacular that I have to stop working in the studio and just stand at the window and watch. This is one of those moments. Awesome and spectacular. Nothing else can be said. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
My granddaughter working hard to decorate a gingerbread house. Actually Bob and I and our grandson all participated in this fun activity and not five minutes after the masterpiece was finished it was eaten! We wish all of you a joyous and happy holiday, Merry Christmas from Niebrugge Studio in Alaska! Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
The view from my studio after a fresh snowfall. I’m guessing these were children on a school field trip. What a great way to wear-out kids! I love the long, low, colorful light of the winter sunset in Alaska. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
The Niebrugge Studio residence took a different approach this year and decided to honor the tiniest trees in the yard with Christmas lights. One tree is so small that even one string of lights was too much. All in all there are seven little trees under four feet tall, and a six foot double tree [...]
A little tip I’ve learned through the years that might help other artists conserve the fast drying acrylic paint. The above photo shows my used palette on top of a new one as I transferred usable paint from the old to the new. Through the years I’ve learned to conserve and save my acrylic paint [...]
Ma and Pa mannequins (newspaper stuffed clothes) waiting on the porch of Niebrugge Studio for the trick or treaters. Happy haunting. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Returning from our trip to Juneau and Skagway, Alaska, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the vegetables in my garden have grown. I spent the greater part of the next day harvesting broccoli, lettuce, parsley and radishes, pulling weeds, training the snap peas to cling to the trellises and watering using our spiffy [...]
A few days ago I listed my basic palette and mentioned that I could not find my favorite color Acra Violet by Liquitex listed anywhere on the Liquitex website, so I submitted my question. Amazingly I received a very complete answer from the product manager, Alexis Dykstra. Here is the scoop taken directly from her [...]
One of the most difficult parts of my job as an artist is managing my photo reference resources. 40 years ago I began with colored snapshots taken with a cheap camera. Today these photos are faded and useless, the negatives stored in shoe boxes. Photo quality improved with a through the lens focus 35mm camera, [...]
“Holiday Tree” original acrylic/watercolor painting sold. Artist proof prints and art cards available. Best wishes to all, God’s blessings, and Merry Christmas from Alaska. Enjoy your day wherever you may be, and be sure to attend a Christmas day worship service. I give thanks for this day, the beauty of nature, for family, for food [...]
I’m often asked where I purchase my art supplies, and the truth is I use catalogs. This habit began 31 years ago when we moved to the remote wilderness of Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska, where few supplies of any kind were available. Before the days of computers and internet, catalogs were a coveted and cherished source [...]
Unfortunately, as soon as we put Christmas lights on 12 trees in the yard, the wind began to blow with gusts up to 80mph. After three days of non-stop wind the lights look like they’ve been in a blender and are a tangled mess. At the moment aside from our scrambled tree lights, one of [...]
We decorated a total of 12 trees in the yard. Now, all we need is a big snow. Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska
Bob, dressed like a true Alaska sourdough, stringing extension cords for outdoor tree lights. We had several weeks of unseasonal warm temperatures, and all of the snow melted. We are hoping that a big snow will come soon, it will make the trees will look like a winter wonderland. And, it will hide a maze [...]
Sunflower Giclee limited edition on canvas by Gail Niebrugge is now available for purchase. We can ship this beautiful print for Christmas. Medium size 16″x21.5″ limited 200 signed and numbered is priced at $320.00 US, large size 24″x32″ limited 150 signed and numbered sells for $615.00 US. These stretched canvases can be ordered with a [...]
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...]