Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge rejoices in the hushed silence created by falling snow during accumulation from a storm.  Ordinary sounds carried across the open lake of vehicles on distant roads are somehow muffled quiet as giant flakes fill the air, obscuring distant vision, covering the land like a white down-filled blanket.  Frosty piles form in [...]

Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge After after a long awaited gorgeous snowfall, Niebrugge Studio is closed for the Holidays and will re-open the 31st of December.  Artist Gail and her husband, Bob, are winging their way to warmer climates.  It may be a few days before Gail can post her blog, for the cruise ship at [...]

Alaska artist Gail Niebrugge It looks like a white Christmas is in the works at the Wasilla studio of Artist Gail Niebrugge.  This beautiful, heavy, wet snow fell throughout the early morning on December 12, 12, 2012.  Fresh snow is always beautiful, cloaking the landscape hiding ugly little treasures forgotten in our yards and along [...]

Alaska Artist Gail Niebrugge One of the thirty plus decorated Christmas trees lighting up the darkness in Alaska artist Gail Niebrugges neighborhood.  They bring such joy and cheer to the long, winter nights.  Niebrugge is anxiously awaiting snow that is forecast for the weekend, the trees will be transformed once the limbs and ground are [...]

Alaska Artist Gail Niebrugge Studio Garden of Lights Moon Lights Niebrugge Studio Garden Crisp, clear, cold and a full moon create a magical display at Alaska Artist Gail Niebrugge’s garden along the entry to the studio.  Once the snow flies the lights will be gorgeous under a layer of white.

After many weeks of hard rain and extreme winds we had half a day of sunshine and calm before the next series of storms.  I spent every minute in the yard harvesting vegetables from the Artist Garden, pulling annuals, and assessing damage.  We survived quite well, a few leaks around garage doors and a shed [...]

Every Fall multi species of mushrooms crop up throughout the Artist Garden and yard, this year is a bonanza.  At first glance I thought the lawn was covered in tan colored leafs blown down from the recent wind storms, on closer inspection I found hundreds of tiny round mushrooms peppering the landscape.  In the woods [...]

The recent giant windstorm that swept through south central Alaska created major damage in Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitina Valley was relatively unscathed.  Which is unusual.  We generally get hammered when winds are forecast.  Sunday I finally found time, after closing down the fair booth, to survey the yard.  For the most part downed small branches created [...]

All summer I watched the Cathedral Bell vines climb up the trellis and wrap tendrils around the wire fence surrounding the garden, and waited for flowers to appear.  Finally, during the last weeks of August this beautiful annual burst into bloom.  It is a lovely plant and the blossoms are much larger than I expected. [...]

The garden is producing fast, I have to check it every day or something will over ripen.  I picked two fabulous, juicy, crunchy cauliflower a few days ago, and several others are ready now.  I love the tender peas before they fully mature, we eat them right off the vine.  Every year during the last [...]

It is amazing how fast the lawn is coming in from seed, it is a little spotty and might need some re-seeding but it is coming along just fine and has transformed the former weed infested section of the yard.  The vegetable garden is producing lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots, the potato and pea [...]

The Valley Garden Club will bring a bus load of folks to our garden July 24, 2012.  We look forward to hosting this event and meeting the members.  Agreeing to do this has made me paranoid about every detail in the yard.  I think things are looking pretty awesome at the moment.  Until then, happy [...]

Day two with young, strong guys landscaping the path to the Artist Garden.  This project went so fast with the help of strong backs and youthful endurance, it would have taken Bob and I all summer.  We used large river rock to create a division between the future lawn and the wood chips.  At this [...]

At our Artist studio/residence the yard beyond the vegetable garden away from the lake has been a kind-of no man’s land, we put a gravel path in several years ago and spread wood chips on both sides but it was soon overrun by horsetail, dandelions, and clover.  My Artist Garden is on the Valley Garden [...]

We’re getting there, the snow slowly is melting off the raised beds alongside the driveway.  Then the ground has to thaw.  The lake is still frozen.  This might be a very late planting season.  The weather has been awesome, in the 60′s during the day, the problem is that it is 28 degrees at night.  [...]

Hmmmmnnnn…..it could take awhile before the ground is ready to plant this year.  This is my garden on April 20 2012. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

It is hard to imagine in less than six weeks we are usually planting seeds in the vegetable garden raised beds, right now they are buried under huge piles of snow from the driveway plowing, it might take a little longer this year.  With sunny skies and above freezing temperatures things are melting fast. Our [...]

Dusk arrives at 4:30PM, we are gaining more daylight every day.  Yesterday at sunset a cow moose and her two calves strolled through the yard browsing on willows and alders, the cow found my treasured China Rose bushes and managed to prune them into little stubs. After feasting in my garden they moved into the [...]

Thanks to cold weather and continual snow, my office is getting a long overdue organization.  Occasionally I stop, stretch, look out the windows and look at the beauty of colored lights buried on snow laden trees.  A joyous sight, it brings a smile.  During the inclement weather I’ve cleaned-up the website, organizing the “Original Paintings” [...]