Gail Niebrugge's Blog
About 40 years ago we brought our family to the historic movie set of Old Tucson, Arizona, John Wayne was still making cowboy movies and we recognized many of the buildings and streets in films. It was exciting. Yesterday we revisited this place of many memories after a drive through the magnificent Saguaro National Park. [...]
While eating dinner at the SaddleBrook Preserve last night and tiny herd of seven deer grazed in the brushy area below the patio. They are so much fun to watch, quiet and quick, first you see them then you don’t. An enjoyable memory of our time in Tucson, Arizona. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
The temperatures drop in the evening in the 3500′ elevation of Oro Valley, North East of Tucson. I’m sitting at my favorite restaurant in the Preserve at SaddleBrook clubhouse, watching the evening sun on the Santa Catalina Mountains. The tallest peaks are over 10,000′ elevation and have traces of snow, in the valley below are [...]
Breakfast at the Westward Look Resort in Tucson. What a change from -22 degrees in Alaska. Yesterday we spent the morning with our old friends at Arizona Lithographers, we’ve been doing business with them for more than 20 years. It was so much fun to reminisce with the owner, John Davis, and put a face [...]
Dusk arrives at 4:30PM, we are gaining more daylight every day. Yesterday at sunset a cow moose and her two calves strolled through the yard browsing on willows and alders, the cow found my treasured China Rose bushes and managed to prune them into little stubs. After feasting in my garden they moved into the [...]
After three days of shredding files my shredder bit the dust, it will only run in reverse spitting wads of confetti sized paper out the top. One of the pitfalls of a home office is that unless we fix broken stuff ourselves, no one else will. The remote phones are not holding a charge, so [...]
By now everyone knows that Alaska is getting a double whammy of snow, something about the jet stream being much further north this year than usual. As I work in the studio office this is the scene outside my window. If I had the choice of wind or snow, I pick snow…..just sayin’ I’m starting [...]
Thanks to cold weather and continual snow, my office is getting a long overdue organization. Occasionally I stop, stretch, look out the windows and look at the beauty of colored lights buried on snow laden trees. A joyous sight, it brings a smile. During the inclement weather I’ve cleaned-up the website, organizing the “Original Paintings” [...]
Yesterday another blizzard, I watched from the upstairs studio windows only able to discern objects that were close, the distance blurred by white haze. Our chairs at the end of the dock nearly buried, iron sentinels in a white landscape. A good day to catch up clearing out file cabinets, shredding paper, filling five big [...]
A magenta sky above the silent frozen lake, natures beauty rose above my dread of sub zero cold, lifted my heavy soul with unexpected joy, I watched mesmerized until inky blackness extinguished the last crimson beam. Alaska in January 2012, preserved in ice until the April thaw. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
Our lake is normally a busy winter playground; ice fishing, snow machine riding sometimes pulling sleds of squealing children, skate skiing, people walking dogs, and anything else you can think of, but since double digit below zero temperatures the lake is silent. As I watch through my cozy studio windows all I see is an [...]
The weather at my Alaska art studio continues to be cold and calm. This morning the thermometer registered -14 degrees and no wind, a gorgeous layer of snow gently covers trees and plants providing insulation from the deep freeze. Here is my rose garden with snow covered rocks creating a beautiful winter landscape in [...]
What a contrast this week has been, from desert sage brush decorated with tinsel and upside down plastic cups, to our snowy front yard with spruce trees laden with tiny lights covered in new fallen snow. Barring another warm front, Christmas will definitely be a white one this year. Bob has been shoveling walkways and [...]
Along the historic route 66 to Oatman, Arizona, we were delighted to find desert bushes decorated for Christmas. Apparently every year there is a Christmas Bush decorating competition in the area. The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in this part of the United States! God’s Blessings to the people of this wonderful community. [...]
The motley crew of old-time Glennallen, Alaska friends enjoyed the atmosphere, beer, and hospitality of the locals in Oatman, Arizona. Bob and Dave Bruno spoiled the wild Burros in Oatman with carrots and barley. I love the burros and the historic town of Oatman. Great painting subject matter. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist
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 [...]
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...]