“Drum’s Cloud” original acrylic painting by Gail Niebrugge, to purchase original call for price and availability.
Returning to my series on my early life as an artist living and painting in the Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness of Alaska. I was fascinated with Mt. Drum from the very first moment it came into view. From my vantage point in Copper Center it is the crown jewel of the Wrangell Mountains. These peaks make their own weather and are often completely obscured by clouds. Over three decades ago when I first arrived in the Copper River Basin I had no idea these mountains existed. Everything above the foothills was socked-in. It was several days before the clouds began to dissolve, slowly at first, then faster and faster until nothing but a small blanket was left clinging to the glacier-clad peak. I was captivated! It was several years before I could paint a believable image of Mt. Drum. I had to know it, study it, and understand it inside and out before I could create a creditable three dimensional illusion of this splendid dormant volcano. “Drums Cloud” is painted in my early photo realism style, many years before pointillism.
More tomorrow,
Gail Niebrugge, wilderness artist
