Gail Niebrugge's Blog
Continued…….. Fortunately we packed a tow strap and some tools on our trip up Nugget Creek trail in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, in 1994. With Bob’s ATV hopelessly stuck, we dug the mud at the high center and shoved branches under the wheels rocking the rig back and forth to gain traction. Using [...]
One memorable research trip in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, began late August 1994 when we towed our two ATV’s through the tiny town of Chitina and followed the McCarthy road about 10 miles to Strelna. Here a narrow dirt road, the Kotsina, forked to the north leading to the Nugget Creek trailhead at [...]
Continued…… As the Copper River exits the narrow channel at the Childs Glacier, it spreads out and meanders slowly around sand bars, and islands rife with narrow channels and backwater coves. Floating slowly in the sunshine leaning back against the inflated side tubes we studied the glacier capped mountains above the east shore. We lost [...]
Continued……. Paddling across the placid Miles Lake was slow and peaceful, sunshine warmed the rubber raft and its occupants. With the historic Million Dollar Railway bridge in view, first as a small dot, it was fun to watch it grow larger and larger as we approached until it loomed huge overhead. Beaching our flotilla we [...]
Continued….. It was a fast, quick trip through the Abercrombie Rapids on the Copper River, unlike the legendary stories about how rough it could be we navigated it like pros. Bear signs marked heavy use along the right shoreline and the rafts following us spotted a Grizzly sow with two cubs close to the water. [...]
“Ice Field” original acrylic and watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge, sold. Piloting my own single engine Cessna along the lower elevations of the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska, worked fine until I became so fascinated with the subjects outside the windshield that I would forget to fly. It soon became clear that to obtain the best reference [...]
Continued…. We broke our camp near the Wernicke River on the Copper River, Alaska, in 1998 on the morning of our fourth day, and floated through Baird Canyon to a spot on the east bank at the Allen River lake outwash/overflow channel. We explored the whole region from the Allen River mouth area on both [...]
Continued….. Paddling the rafts past the braided channels and vast sand and mud flats of the confluence of the Bremner and Copper Rivers was tedious and tiring. We were glad to see the confluence of the Wernicke River on the west shore, and slowly floated close to land until we found a small protected cove [...]
Continued…….. Day three of our 1998 float trip on the Copper River, Alaska, exploring the possibility of creating a Rails to Trails system using the abandoned rail bed of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway from Chitina to Cordova. We found the area around the Heney Glacier Lake was rife with relics and remains of [...]
Continued…… We floated the Copper River on day 3 with the goal to explore the historic Copper River and Northwest Railroad rail bed along the Tasnuna River delta. Each stop revealed another part of the history of this region. Braided into many channels, a hiking trail would not necessarily follow the original route of the [...]
Continued….. The third day of a float trip surveying the Copper River and Northwest Railroad bed along the east shore of the Copper River from Chitina to Cordova, Alaska, during the summer of 1998. We rose knowing our time would be spent pursuing one of the essential tasks on a long float trip; replenishing drinking [...]
Continued….. The continuation of a float trip on the Copper River, Alaska, following the Copper River and Northwest Railway rail bed during the summer of 1998. After exploring the Tiekel River tunnel, we arrived at the delta of Cleave Creek to make camp as the sun was setting. Alpen glow bathed the mountains across the [...]
Continued….. We scoured the riverbanks along the east shore of the Copper River, searching for the historic Copper River and Northwestern Railway tunnel near the Tiekel river delta, on our float trip from Chitina to Cordova, Alaska, in 1998. The shoreline all looked similar. This massive river is fed by many glaciers, summer heat causes [...]
Continued….. Our second morning was uneventful as we floated along the east shore of the Copper River, visually scouting for remnants of the Copper River and Northwest Railway on our trip from Chitina to Cordova, Alaska, the summer of 1998. Consulting topographic maps of the area we kept track of every landmark, and used them [...]
Continued…… The photo above is the view from our tent on the sandbar at the confluence of the Uranatina River and the Copper River, Alaska, on the first night of our float trip from Chitina to Cordova in 1998. A beautiful end to a rainy, cloudy day. The next morning we woke to this scene, [...]
“Kennicott;stabilized” original acrylic on Sintra painting by Gail Niebrugge, original sold, limited edition prints available. It is with great pleasure that I lived to paint the stabilized version of the historic Kennicott Copper Mill and offer it in a limited edition print for my collectors world-wide. After three decades of watching, waiting, documenting the decline [...]
“Kennicott;Pre-Restoration” original acrylic on Sintra painting by Gail Niebrugge. Part of the permanent collection of Fountainhead Hotels, Sophie Station, Fairbanks, Alaska. This very large acrylic painting of the Kennicott Copper Mill is shown from the vantage point of the road bed just before the bridge over National Creek. This bridge washed out during the flash [...]
Continued….. After lunch at Haley Creek on the Copper River, Alaska, float trip in 1998, we embarked with care and paddled hard to the opposite shore to bypass a powerful whirlpool below the creek delta. I’ve experienced this hydraulic in a jet boat, it is an adrenalin packed adventure where the boat goes through a [...]
Continued….. Our first stop on the Copper River float trip that began at Chitina, Alaska, was for lunch and exploration of the popular clear water tributary Haley Creek. In 1998 vehicles were able to access the old Copper River and Northwestern Railway rail bed to this point, and parts of the historic railway trestle still [...]
“Frozen Copper” original acrylic/watercolor painting by Gail Niebrugge. Original painting sold, limited edition prints available. Through the years I have explored every nook and cranny of the historic Kennicott Copper Mill in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. I was privileged to serve as the first Artist-in-Residence for the park, a position that I held for [...]
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...]