Birthday cake at Donna Church’s home in Bullhead City, Arizona, with Faye & Jim Palin, Dave & Joella Bruno, Donna and several of her “Ivy Street Girls”.  Oh yes, Wayne too!  Wonderful, memorable times. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

Bob with Joella and Dave Bruno in Lake Havasu, Arizona.  We enjoyed renewing our 36 year friendship with our old Glennallen neighbors and learning about the beautiful community of Lake Havasu.  Great times, good friends, and tons of fun. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

A truly fabulous garden is in Henderson, Nevada, at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory.  Acres of cactus and desert plants are covered in Christmas lights in every conceivable color and shape.  We wandered through the gardens on well-maintained paths and enjoyed the light display sans snow and ice.  Gorgeous! Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, has an extraordinary ceiling light fixture in the lobby made by the glass sculptor Chihuly.  The Christmas display at this hotel is fabulous as well.  I’m always overwhelmed my first day off the airplane when arriving downtown Las Vegas, it is sensory overload.  It didn’t take us long [...]

We are taking a quick trip south to meet with good friends and celebrate our shared birthdays.  Will be back to the studio on December 21st.  Any orders will be shipped at that time.  Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

When I was young I had Pen Pals, and we wrote letters to each other regularly.  I remember running out to the mail box in anticipation of an envelope addressed to me in my Pen Pal’s handwriting.  I’d read and re-read each letter over and over enjoying the smell of the stationary and any flaws [...]

Sandy and Sean Parnell We topped off a busy week of travel with our house guests enjoying the down home hospitality of our own community, first attending the Friday Fling in downtown Palmer, later seeing our Governor Sean Parnell and his wife Sandy at the annual picnic at the Palmer Fairgrounds.  A generous serving of [...]

Bob and me, Arlene and Bob Shuster Every time we drive the Seward Highway and pass the Summit Lake Lodge I marvel at the beautiful setting along the lake, well-kept grounds, and delightful wood carvings that adorn doors, fences, and the exterior of the log buildings.  This year we visited the ice cream shop with [...]

Every year we fish for King Salmon with our favorite guide Jeremy Anderson of Alaska Drift Away Fishing.  This time we spent two sunny, warm days drifting down the Kalisof River, Alaska, enjoying excellent scenery, great fishing action, and the type of outstanding service that Jeremy is famous.  Not only did everyone catch a King, [...]

It is fun to have house guests from out-of-state, it creates the opportunity to visit places that we ordinarily might skip.  We drove to Willow, Alaska, to visit the gorgeous yard of master gardener Les Brake, who has been featured in numerous magazines including Horticulture, Sunset, Country Living, Gardens Illustrated as well as featured in [...]

Art Rotch, director of Perseverance Theater located on Douglas Island, Juneau, Alaska, gives the Alaska State Council on the Arts Board of Directors a tour of the theater and the complex catacombs underground where costumes, props, lighting, and actors work to make Alaska’s largest professional theater come to life. We had a fascinating, interesting presentation [...]

Our sixth day of cruising was spent at sea with frequent viewings of porpoise, whales, and rocky tree-studded islands, a beauty unsurpassed.  On the morning of the seventh day we arrived at the magnificent city of Vancouver, BC.  After a hectic and rather uncoordinated disembarkment, not the usual standard that we have come to expect [...]

Our last stop on the seven day Alaska cruise was the lush, green city of Ketchikan.  Flowers and totem poles abound, but my favorite place is the historic bordello district Creek Street.  We enjoyed talking to the staff at Scanlon Gallery, they have been selling my work for more than 20 years and have a [...]

Back to my journal; day four of our seven day Alaska cruise found us basking under sunshine in the capitol city of Alaska, Juneau.  We had a busy, fun-filled day touring as much of Juneau as we could cram into our schedule.  Pictured above are Bob and I at the fabulous Mendenhall Glacier.  We were [...]

Day three found us berthed with three other cruise ships on the docks at the historic gold rush town, Skagway, Alaska.  One of my favorite things to do in Skagway is ride the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, the scenery is breathtaking and seeped in history.  At this time of the year the summit is [...]

The first two days on our Alaska cruise we toured the Hubbard Glacier at Yakutat, and spent all day motoring through gorgeous Glacier Bay.  At this time of the year the temperatures were a bit nippy and the landscape was just beginning to turn green, but the scenery was a spectacular.  Photo above; Gail and [...]

Last week after taking the train from Anchorage to Whittier, Alaska, we boarded the spectacular Diamond Princess for a seven day cruise through southeast Alaska.  I planned this trip to gather more research for future paintings of the glaciers and towns along the Alaska panhandle.  Pictured left to right; Bob Niebrugge, Gail Niebrugge, Tim Kanady, [...]

One of my favorite activities during travel is to visit botanical gardens, but in Maui one day I found these gorgeous Jade flowers covering an arbor over the entrance to some restrooms.  Flowers are everywhere on this beautiful island paradise and you never know where you might find a rare gem. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wildflower [...]

I am clearly not a photographer, nor have I ever intended to be one, but the camera has been my friend since the days of the big black box with black and white film when I was a kid.  It is a tool for my art.  I have dozens of file drawers full of photos, [...]