Gail Niebrugge's Blog
The temperature was 80 in Borrego Springs yesterday so we drove to Blair Valley to hike, at this higher elevation the temperature was a comfortable 72. We followed the well marked Blair Valley Road and easily found the trailhead for the Morteros, an ancient American Indian campsite where we saw the bowl shaped holes formed [...]
Yesterday afternoon we explored the Badlands of the Anza Borrego State Park and found the Pumpkin Patch, a place scattered with pumpkin shaped rocks. Unusual and interesting. It was sunset, and the low light gave the rocks a yellow/orange glow. The Badlands are a maze of 4 wheel drive trails that follow sandy washes up [...]
So far I’ve only found a couple of these beautiful lilies, both were solitary plants growing near the Di Giorgio Road/ Coyote Creek trail in the Anza Borrego desert of southern California. We drove the Coyote Creek trail as far as our vehicle would allow without high centering on rocks, then hiked a distance up [...]
We hiked the desert floor west from the Anza Borrego Visitor Center toward the canyon that lies between Hellhole Canyon and the Palm Canyon and spotted the first blooming California Barrel Cactus! In another week the tops of these plants will be festooned with these pretty yellow flowers! More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, pointillism paintings
The best wildflower bloom at the moment in the Anza Borrego State Park is along the Henderson Canyon Road where lawn sized patches of the blue/purple Sand Verbena cling to rolling ridges punctuated with spots of the soft white Dune Primrose. Lovely to see. During our visit we heard the yelping calls of two packs [...]
These tall, fat, California barrel cactus swell up from absorbing moisture after a rainfall and shrivel during the dry season. When cut open they are a good source of water for the desert big horn sheep, but not for humans because the moisture inside is very alkaline and will cause a greater thirst. I love [...]
Bob blends into the landscape wearing his camo jacket while hiking among the ocotillo cactus on the Cactus Loop Trail in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. Although rain, wind and cool weather were forcast for today, it turned out sunny and nice and sure beats the weather in Alaska at the moment. The [...]
Our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge, set up to shoot the waterfall at the oasis at the end of the Borrego Palm Canyon trail. This spot is lush and beautiful, fresh water pools among large boulders, lots of desert foliage and a grove of tall palm trees. The trail to the oasis is scattered with the [...]
Bob and I at the oasis at the end of the 2.6 mile Palm Canyon hiking trail. This hike follows a stream bed and is full of interesting native desert plants and boulders, the stream is often visited by bighorn sheep although we did not spot any on this trip. I plan to visit this [...]
Bob and I at the Maidenhair Falls in the Hellhole Canyon of the Anza Borrego State Park, California. Our 6 mile round trip hike up the Hellhole Canyon revealed a lot of early wildflowers, and the very beginning of red blooms on the Ocotillo cactus. Near the Maidenhair Falls were several cool oasis with palm [...]
Our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge and his wife Janine join Bob and I during a day hike in the Anza Borrego State Park in southern California. We are spending time in the desert this winter anticipating a bonanza wildflower bloom due to the excellent timing of rain in the area. The plants are full of [...]
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...]