Gail Niebrugge's Blog
I love late October in the Matanuska valley, Alaska, watching the snow line slowly descend the mountains and migratory waterfowl passing through. The other day my neighbor called a “swan alert,” soon several of us gathered with our cameras to watch a group of 28 Trumpeter swan as they fed along the shallow shoreline. The [...]
While cooking sweet corn on the outdoor bar-be-que last evening I heard the beautiful call of Trumpeter Swan coming from my neighbors yard. I grabbed the point and shoot camera and crept across her lawn to a scene where seven swan and seven of their signets were feeding along the shallow shore. It was late [...]
Mallard ducks, fat and happy, are gathering by the dozens in our yard and snoozing on the dock. They are leaving a poopy mess. The young chicks almost fully grown and testing their wings, soon will be airborne migrating south. Who knows if they will survive the onslaught of lead shot as they pass over [...]
Seeds fly in air, caught in the breeze, inhaling them will cause a sneeze. White fuzzy grass, they land on water, Cottonwood scum becomes duck fodder. Along the shore, the pond turns white, drifting seeds are quite a sight. A floating web, insects are caught, a tasty dish without a thought. Simply served, a fast [...]
Three fuzzy Bonaparte Gull chicks swam out of the lilies to sun on Ron’s longs as we approached our dock, within seconds the screechy, bomber-like attacking adults began their assault. After fending off the overhead onslaught with a push broom they settled down to watch from the top of the big spruce tree and [...]
Friday was 75º and sunny, a great day to work in the yard and do some boating. As we approached the dock several Bonaparte Gulls began high pitched screeching and quickly soared in for an attack! Bob fended them off with a boat hook, but they were fiercely undeterred. Shortly we saw three tiny fluffy [...]
We have so much fun watching the Mallard families grow, these two broods have taken to our lawn and love coming up to eat the sunflower seeds that have fallen from the bird feeder. Today we observed one mamma with her offspring following in a long straight line parade down the lawn onto the dock [...]
After three days of heavy rain sunshine lured me outdoors. As I approached the dock juvenile Mallard ducklings were sunning themselves on Ron’s logs, all seven crowded on a small section that rises above water. They’ve grown so large their isn’t much room, but they seemed happy resting with heads tucked under wings. Alerted by [...]
Seven Mallard chicks have been cruising the shore of our cove for three weeks, and are growing so fast it is hard to believe. This area is rich with food and home to two sets of Mallards with chicks as well as Red Neck Grebe and Bonaparte Gull nests. We love the ducklings and enjoy [...]
Every year we float our “Bird Nesting Area” sign warning watercraft to slow down and keep a respectful distance. We have had as many as three separate nests at one time in our cove, and since the signs appeared the birth success rate has greatly improved. For some strange reason a pair of Redneck Grebes [...]
We have four nesting boxes in the trees around the studio, but for some reason the box that is always occupied is this homemade gem given to me by our son Ron and his wife Janine. This year Chickadees began building a nest in this box and worked at it for two weeks until the [...]
We had a fabulous trip to view brown bears and watch the early nest building of seabirds, Murres and Puffins, at an island rookery in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The photo above shows me climbing over rocks to gain a closer view of the birds. This area was an incredible natural rock garden with early blooming [...]
The mama swallow peers out of the nest box waiting for the next feeding. The hatch must be coming soon, she hasn’t left the nest in quite awhile. It is so much fun to watch these industrious and busy birds operate, and the mosquito population has been cut in half. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape painter
The lake is a mirror, calm, unmoving, a surface of glass except for a bubble here and there rising from the bottom and bursting at the top forming tiny circular ripples. The cove is ripe with weeds and fingerling fish, excellent cuisine for waterfowl. Six Trumpeter Swan arrived, four signets and two adults, to rest [...]
One of the most interesting events at the lake during this time of year is watching various waterfowl pass through on their journey south. Last evening I heard a very distinct and different bird calling from the lake, investigating in my kayak I found two beautiful Lesser Yellowlegs feeding along the shore in our cove. [...]
Mother Grebe feeding the one day old chick while the two day old chick watches. On the lower left the father Grebe forages for food. We had the pleasure of watching this family grow in the nest that was constructed on a log just ten feet from our dock. This is the second year the [...]
Photo; Redneck Grebe clumsily moving at top Grebe speed across the lake. Yesterday I looked up from my easel and gazed at the lake, the sun was shining and I could hear the outdoors calling so I took a break. The sun felt good as I walked across the fresh cut grass to the end [...]
It is the first week of August, and most of the young waterfowl born on our lake this summer are nearly full grown. It has been a joy and a pleasure to watch the young chicks nurtured under the watchful eye of their parents. We got a chuckle when an American Widgeon with eight chicks [...]
While riding on mom’s back in the warm comfort of her wings, two of the three Grebe chicks stretch their black and white striped heads toward dad waiting to be fed from whatever he found while diving in the weeds at the bottom of the lake. Although the chicks can swim and dive themselves, they [...]
The sunny evening of June 30 we sat on our patio watching the Grebe chicks learn to dive and swim on the lake when Tree Swallow chicks began emerging from the nest box on the Birch tree. One at a time they tumble/flutter/flew from the box onto the lawn and remained almost motionless as they [...]
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...]