“Caribou Crossing” 15.5″ x 23.5″ acrylic painting SOLD.
Fall in the Wrangell-St. Elias region of interior Alaska begins in early September and lasts only a few weeks, the colors are intense, richly saturated and strong. In a word, beautiful. The research for “Caribou Crossing” was done during the 1980′s along the Nabesna road, one of only two roads that access the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The dusty dirt trail begins at the Tok Cutoff and meanders 42 miles through the northern region of the park wilderness, views of the Wrangell Mountains and interesting geology make this a satisfying drive. For several years we maintained a campsite near one of the creeks along this road and hiked the ridges above treeline watching caribou.
I learned a lot of lessons from this painting the composition changed often, at one time several caribou were painted crossing the creek. Painting and re-painting over and over again created a thick texture of acrylic paint across the surface. I can’t remember when I began this piece, but years went by with it put away unfinished more than once. One day I was satisfied, and I was so happy to be done that I varnished the final art before it was photographed. Unfortunately strong lights used for photography reflected on the glossy coating and created sparkles all over the surface, making the film image too poor a quality to reproduce. All I can show is this tiny jpg file where I’ve done my best to remove the spots of light in Photoshop. Lessons learned. The painting actually turned out quite nice and is handsomely gracing the walls of a collector.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist
