Gail Niebrugge's Blog
This week five of us tackled the first three miles of the Gold Mint Trail at Hatcher Pass. Not pictured (taking our photo) is Mary Kate Mayer, and from left to right; Carol Turner, Sue Mues, me, and Mary Mystrom. What started out as a cloudy cool day turned into perfect, sunny hiking weather. We [...]
A few of us girls are planning to hike together one day a week the first hike was yesterday, June 2. In the middle of a clear, sunny day we drove two cars to the Butte trail in Palmer. This time I knew better and parked one car at the north trail head and another [...]
I’ve spent too many days at the desk attacking the piles of paper that accumulated while I was away. I don’t mind being indoors during the ash fall from the volcano Mt. Redoubt, but today the sun came out, the mountains were visible and the temperatures climbed to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to go [...]
These are the first blooms I’ve seen on the Cholla Cactus this year. The Anza Borrego desert is alive in color, it has been a spectacular wildflower season. I’m sad to say that we have to leave soon, but anxious to get back to work in my studio in Alaska. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, wildflower [...]
The cactus are beginning to bloom in the desert, I especially love the vivid magenta of the Beavertail flowers. It is fun to hike and search for the early bloomers, it reminds me of an Easter egg hunt. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, wildflower artist
I find myself returning to the Anza Borrego Desert Palm Canyon often, it is one of my favorite places in the park. On a hot day the clear, cool springs at the end of the canyon make the hike all the more worthwhile. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, landscape artist
Another great hike is a 3 mile treck through a winding slot canyon starting near Buttes Pass Road on Highway 78 east of Borrego Springs Road. Two state park volunteer naturalists guided our group as we squeezed and ducked our way through this Disneyesque landscape. We loved this canyon, but don’t want to be anywhere [...]
Returning back to the Anza Borrego Desert we took a group hike with a state park naturalist up one of the unnamed washes of the North Fork Arroyo Salado beginning about mile 35 on Hwy. S-22, to the Truckhaven Rocks. The sandstone lined wash is interesting, we were delighted to find a new plant or [...]
Unlike the California Gold Poppy, the Parish’s Poppy is much smaller and grows in the Anza Borrego desert region of Southern Californina. It is fun to find these tiny golden wildflowers tucked among the boulders, or hidden in sandy washes. The desert is coming alive with yellow colored wildflowers during the peak of the bloom. [...]
With the wildflower bloom at its peak, I’m hiking the Anza Borrego desert daily sketching and photographing. Last weekend the San Diego Union featured this spectacular bloom on its front page bringing hundreds of tourists to the park to see the wildflowers. During the week we have the place mostly to ourselves. It’s amazing to [...]
The desert jackrabbits are big, their ears are half as tall as their bodies. They will hold very still seeming invisible, then suddenly burst out of the brush and tear across the ground lickety split. This one let me get quite close before he took off. They are gorging themselves on the green grass and [...]
We spent most of the day today hiking near Palm Canyon and identifying wildflowers, they are nearing their peak bloom in the California Anza Borrego desert this winter. The ground is covered in millions of tiny colorful blossoms. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, Wildflower artist
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 [...]
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...]