Gail Niebrugge's Blog
“Rose Building” original ink drawing on Bristol paper 11″ x 15″ unframed During my time as an artist living in rural Alaska I have sought out and sketched many historic buildings and equipment. My very first prints were ink drawings of roadhouses along the Richardson Highway, in Chitina, and McCarthy/Kennicott. There were 12 prints in [...]
“Dredge at Flat” ink drawing on Bristol paper 11″ x 15″ unframed I am always on the lookout for historic places and relics, I love drawing and painting these subjects, and was amazed to discover a treasure trove in a tiny settlement south of the ghost town of Iditarod called Flat. One year while following [...]
“Braided River” acrylic on rag board 13″ x 18″ unframed This is one of my favorite views along the Glenn Highway, Alaska. I love the geology, the mountains, and the glacier fed braided Matanuska River. We drove this highway at least once a week for 19 years while living in Copper Center, Alaska, and I [...]
“Subterranean Decay” acrylic on rag board 16″ x 20″ framed under glass 24″ x 28″ A final painting from the Syracuse University graduate student assignment to illustrate my impressions of the city of New York. This idea sprang forth from spending time at the telephone company headquarters where the deteriorating condition of the myriad of [...]
“Chicago” acrylic on rag board 16″x 20″ framed under glass 24″x28″ This is another of my illustrations done during graduate studies at Syracuse University, New York, depicting my impressions of Chicago. I used the store front of an upscale mall downtown for the design and then added people in a montage. I was impressed by [...]
“Grant Park” acrylic on rag board 16″x20″ framed under glass 24″x28″ “Grant Park” is part of a series of illustrations created during my studies as a graduate Student in the Independent Study Program at Syracuse University, New York. We traveled to several different cities and the assignment was to paint our impressions . I loved [...]
“Gnarled Sentry” watercolor on rag paper 22″x30″, matted no frame I will never forget painting this one. In 1984 after taking a workshop from Edward Betts at the Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, California, I completed a smaller version titled ” ‘Neath the Tree” shown in my most recent blog post. Back at my studio in [...]
” ‘Neath the Tree” watercolor on rag paper 15″x22″, matted no frame. Painted in 1984 during my studies under artist Edward Betts, the subject of this watercolor was located along the highways and back roads of Mendocino, California, where we practiced plein aire painting. There are two versions of this subject, the second one will [...]
“Russian Gulch” watercolor/acrylic on rag paper 15″x22″ matted, no frame. In 1981 I found a mentor, Edward Betts professor emeritus of art at the University of Illinois, featured in 1983 American Artist Magazine as one of fourteen “living legends” in American Watercolor. I had the pleasure to attend several classes he taught, one in Anchorage, [...]
“Yellow Chair” acrylic on canvas 18″ x 24″ This is a very early work (1979) and was painted as a live still life in my studio as an example for my students in an art class that I taught in Glennallen, for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, extension. My students still tell me how much [...]
“Country Road” watercolor/acrylic 22″x30″on 300# Arches rag paper unframed. I really found myself and style with pointillism, “Country Road” was painted in 1998 when I explored combining the two mediums of watercolor and acrylic. It was great fun. This is a scene along the Eklutna Flats, Alaska, looking north, an area that I explored frequently [...]
“Designer Fish: Paisley” acrylic on rag paper 22″x30″, framed under glass 32″ x 40″ From 1986-1988 I pushed, explored and experimented with my style and subject matter, “Designer Fish: Paisley” painted in 1988 is one of the few surviving works from that period. This piece is heavily painted, many versions are underneath. I began pointillism [...]
“Yupic Funeral” acrylic on rag paper 22″ x 30″, framed under glass 32″ x 40″ “Yupic Funeral” is painted from research gathered in 1980 during my stay in the village of Atmautluak, in the lower Kuskowim Delta, Alaska, to complete a Per Cent for Art commission for the new school. I posted the story about [...]
“Fourth & Washington” 18″ x 36″ acrylic on canvas. This month I’ve devoted myself to scanning slides of early paintings in my personal collection, and posting them on my website. It has been an emotional walk down memory lane, and tells the story of my life as an artist in Alaska. “Fourth & Washington” painted [...]
“Blackburn Through The Notch” 8″x12″ acrylic on rag board, framed under glass 16″x 20″ This image was the subject of my very first colored limited edition print, painted in 1985, the title was shortened to “Blackburn” and was published for the Soroptomists of Cook Inlet as a fund-raiser. One weekend we flew with another couple [...]
“Rail Car” acrylic and watercolor 22″x30″ on Arches 300# rag paper, framed under glass 32″x40″ Another early work, this one was painted in 1989, a close up view of a interesting wheel of one of the historic vehicles that stand in the open fields of Chitina, Alaska. Used during the copper mining era, this vehicle [...]
“Copper River Labyrinth” 14″ x 20″ acrylic on rag board, framed under glass 22″ x 28″ This piece was painted as part of my original Alaska Bush Mail Plane series in 1985, all the other paintings in that series are sold. It shows the braided flow of the Copper River in Alaska from an aerial [...]
“Enchanted Profile” 16.5″ x 24″ on rag board,framed under glass 26″ x 33″ I used a live model for this painting, it was completed during my tenure as a graduate student at Syracuse University, New York. It has been a part of our private collection since 1990 and is now being offered for sale. This [...]
“Copper Center’s Past” 15″x30″ acrylic on canvas ©1976 This is one of my very early works (1976), painted during my palette knife plein aire period when we lived in Copper Center, Alaska. The McCrary homestead located along the Copper River in Copper Center, consisted of several log buildings including a jail and this great barn. [...]
“Broken Porch” 22″x30″ watercolor framed under glass 32″x40″ I’ve decided to offer some of my earlier paintings for sale, this treasure has been with us since 1989, and shows the machine shop porch before it collapsed at the historic Kennicott Copper mine in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. This is a favorite place 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...]