Gail Niebrugge's Blog
Sometimes I wake early my brain whirling with thoughts and plans, going back to sleep is not in the cards. Through the years I’ve learned when this happens it is better to get up and begin the day. Actually, I cherish these quiet, early morning sojourns. They are a gift of time to do exactly [...]
If you look carefully you can see a faint change of color in the water, that is the slushy thin ice that still remains on the surface of the lake. With the wind blowing and an occasional sprinkle of rain, I expect this ice to evaporate within a day or two. Today the Common Loon [...]
The hours of daylight are equal to the number of hours of darkness now, and changing by minutes every day. The days are sunny and above freezing, snow is melting fast. My neighbor had a big job this winter during the almost daily snowfall, keeping his skating rink groomed and clear of wind drifts. It [...]
Wow, this week has had killer weather, sunny and above freezing during the day. Let the winter recreation begin! The Chugach mountains are spectacular in the last rays of the afternoon sun, many tracks in the snow are evidence of snow machine activity, and an occasional hole in the ice a remnant of a fishing [...]
By now everyone knows that Alaska is getting a double whammy of snow, something about the jet stream being much further north this year than usual. As I work in the studio office this is the scene outside my window. If I had the choice of wind or snow, I pick snow…..just sayin’ I’m starting [...]
A magenta sky above the silent frozen lake, natures beauty rose above my dread of sub zero cold, lifted my heavy soul with unexpected joy, I watched mesmerized until inky blackness extinguished the last crimson beam. Alaska in January 2012, preserved in ice until the April thaw. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
Our lake is normally a busy winter playground; ice fishing, snow machine riding sometimes pulling sleds of squealing children, skate skiing, people walking dogs, and anything else you can think of, but since double digit below zero temperatures the lake is silent. As I watch through my cozy studio windows all I see is an [...]
Sunday morning brought rain, overnight winds and rain quickly melted snow causing hockey rink highways. Last fall I repeatedly called four different rain gutter companies to clean our clogged gutters. Many messages later, no one came. Today water cascades freely down gutter sides, down spouts blocked. Messy. I guess the slow economy hasn’t affected them [...]
Winter winds stripped the snow from our yard and churned up the fragile thin surface ice, opening big swaths of cold, choppy water on the lake. Now fresh snow swirls across the rumpled, frozen crust, causing a haze. Never ending changes in weather as the temperatures grow colder and daylight shortens at this time of [...]
High winds blew all the snow off the lake and scoured the ice to a highly polished surface. Slick, shiny and very thin, this crust is only three days old, fragile, extremely thin and very deceiving. A dangerous lure for the unknowing. This big weather front brought amazing clouds and an awesome sunset. Once the [...]
It snowed last Sunday and is forecast to continue for the next two days, with temperatures in the low 20′s at night I think it might stay awhile. It is hard to predict, we’ve had such balmy weather it could warm up again. Before it snowed the lake was still free of ice in the [...]
Smooth ice forms along edges in the shallows, wind ripples open water, freeze-up begins. Dramatic contrasts along my daily walk in late October. Working long hours in the studio, some at the desk others at the easel, I look forward to a brisk walk in the beautiful warm light of late afternoon. I never tire [...]
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 [...]
A photographer I’m not, but I can’t help myself. Lately the evening the sunsets draw me outside with camera in hand and find me running around the lawn snapping photos until it is too dark to see. Calm water, amazing clouds, the sun setting below the western horizon on our lake is the perfect [...]
Every fall season I revel in the slowly changing color in the skies at dusk. They are made especially beautiful when reflected from scattered clouds onto the glassy surface of our lake. During the night the skies cleared and I am told the northern lights danced overhead. Drats! I’ve got to set the alarm and [...]
One evening after dinner I looked out the kitchen window and saw the crystal clear, calm water of the lake with no one else in sight. The sun was ready to dip below the horizon, a moment too good to stay indoors and miss. Bob and I grabbed kayak paddles from the garage, donned life [...]
Yesterday as I walked through the yard a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and lit up the trees along the shore of our lake. The water was flat-calm, a perfect mirror. Overhead are the sounds of migrating birds as they fly in formation southbound. I’m always impressed by the sounds and beauty of [...]
After scouting the seven mile canoe trail from our lake, Sunday dawned clear, calm and sunny and we decided to take our kayaks on the whole route. Crossing Finger Lake from our dock took about 1/2 hour to the portage where we hauled our gear over a hill across a finger of land to Cottonwood [...]
The fall colors are slowly creeping into the foliage and leaves, a flat calm evening on the lake with our kayaks rewarded us with beautiful vistas, sightings of Loons and other ducks. Fish are jumping everywhere! We plan to take the seven mile canoe trip from Finger Lake to Wasilla Lake tomorrow in our kayaks. [...]
With all the code violations on our lake this year it looks like Alaska State Parks in cooperation with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough finally posted the lake use rules at the public boat launch. Hooray!!! Now we just have to educate the residents and maybe we can return to a quiet, beautiful fishing lake with productive [...]
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...]